Tim Burton, managing director, 7fivefive
In 2026, the media industry will not question cloud adoption, but it will be asking how to use the cloud most effectively. The economics of cloud workflows have become more nuanced. A variable, usage-based model aligns well with fluctuation in content delivery schedules and peak periods of demand, but only when organisations can clearly see what is driving consumption.
What will separate successful broadcast operations from costly ones in 2026 is leveraging data to determine how resources are deployed. This avoids over-provisioning infrastructure “just in case,” and allows teams to respond to measurable demand. In practice, overspend is rarely caused by peak workloads alone. It more often arises from idle virtual infrastructure, inefficient data movement, or storage decisions that are disconnected from how content is actually accessed.
Automation plays an important role, but only when informed by accurate, real-time metrics that reflect how teams work. Media companies are starting to differentiate between creative, promotional, archive, and delivery resources more deliberately, aligning infrastructure profiles and cost models to each rather than treating all workflows equally.
Instead of viewing hybrid infrastructure as a stepping stone to full cloud adoption, in 2026, many organisations will treat this as a stable, long-term operating model that balances flexibility and locality. But as hyperscale platforms continue to underpin much of the industry’s infrastructure, media companies are becoming more deliberate in how they design around them. Even at hyperscale, no platform is immune to disruption. For broadcasters, the priority is not absolute uptime, but ensuring systems are resilient so post-production maintains continuity. Media companies are already placing greater emphasis on understanding workload duration and performance patterns across users and projects. Success in 2026 will be defined by predictable costs, predictable performance, and predictable operational behaviour.
There is growing recognition that simply having access to large-scale infrastructure is not enough on its own. Teams need the orchestration and governance layers that ensure resources are used intentionally. The strategic advantage in 2026 will come from how scale is applied, guided by operational analytics and insight.
AJA senior product consultant, Abe Abt
In 2025, a shift toward “better pixels” and the rapid growth of remote production were prevailing themes in media and entertainment and pro AV. After years of resolution wars, it became clear in 2025 that these industries are now prioritising HDR to improve overall image quality, with it becoming a core requirement in broadcast, production, and post, and in some instances, even in AV. AJA has seen increasing demand from customers across these verticals for tools that make it easier to deliver more vibrant, cinematic content, especially as multi-camera pipelines become standard and grow more sophisticated. At the same time, remote production has surged and continued to evolve rapidly, enabling more centralised, high-quality workflows over the internet or dedicated fibre. In 2025, this helped to accelerate production processes, allowing more content to reach audiences that might not have otherwise.
Both the move toward higher-quality pixels and the rise of remote production are reshaping M&E workflows, especially as more IP video layers are integrated into traditional baseband pipelines. As video moves from SDI and fibre into compressed or uncompressed IP streams, facilities must now account for new timing standards, transport protocols, and variables as defined by SMPTE ST 2110 and other IP frameworks. Once those streams reach the remote facility and are decoded, the creative stages – like editing, VFX, or grading – remain familiar, but delivery is far more complex due to the increase in output formats. At the same time, these developments have unlocked significant gains in efficiency and output quality across the industry and allowed productions to scale without massive on-site infrastructure. They’ve also prompted hardware developers to deliver more powerful real-time processing tools in smaller, more affordable packages. As a result, the pace of innovation has accelerated, enabling creators to produce more content, at higher quality, faster than ever before.
In 2026, these trends will continue accelerating as more facilities look to adopt more cost-efficient, high-bandwidth IP infrastructure, making technologies like SMPTE ST 2110 far more accessible. With 25GbE and 100GbE hardware becoming mainstream, organisations of all shapes and sizes, from major broadcasters to small community channels, will be able to build IP “sandboxes” and start embracing hybrid baseband and IP workflows. The evolution of uncompressed and compressed IP video pipelines will open the doors to faster, more flexible deployment of advanced production setups. In 2026, we expect these workflows to reach a new level of maturation that will bring greater efficiency and agility, which will help support increasing demand for high-quality content creation.
It’s difficult to predict what’s around the corner, because the industry is evolving so quickly, but we expect the momentum we’re seeing across remote production, HDR, and IP to continue, if not accelerate. With high-end imaging tools, real-time processing, and multiplatform delivery becoming increasingly accessible, creators can now take advantage of tools that were once limited to major studios. That democratisation will spark new creative approaches and unexpected workflows as people push the boundaries of what’s possible with cost-efficient hardware and powerful software.
Graham Sharm, VP sales and marketing, BCNEXXT
Our large broadcast and media companies are financially overhung, due to historic structures and the fragmentation of revenues caused by the accelerated rise of streaming. Finally, they are talking about it, but very few are acting due to the silos and politics of seeing empires dismantled. The balance of power in the media industry has shifted as technology companies move into the creative and content ownership landscape.
Tech-led companies approach media as a systems-and-scale problem, not just a creative one. They are fluent in cloud, automation, AI/ML, platform engineering, and real-time analytics, and they bring that fluency to organisations that historically operated under legacy processes, siloed infrastructures, and manual workflows. Their worldview is simple: Technology is the engine of efficiency, agility, and long-term profitability. And fundamentally, it’s a very different philosophy.
During Paramount’s Q3 2025 earnings call, David Ellison, the CEO, effectively laid out the operating blueprint that every major media organisation will soon be forced to follow: “If we want to remain competitive long-term, we must strengthen our technology and do what it takes to position ourselves as the industry’s most technologically capable media company.”
As streaming economics continue to strain the industry and legacy workflows hold back scale, the only path to profitability is through consolidation, automation, and deeper AI integration. Ellison is saying what many media leaders have tiptoed around for years: the industry must transform or the tech-savvy new owners will simply build the systems themselves.
For years, we’ve all understood that cost savings of this magnitude cannot come from headcount reductions alone. Workflows must be re-engineered, silos removed, and modern practices embraced. Technology is the enabler and Ellison’s comments crystallise that urgency.
Ryan DeMars, co-founder and COO, Beam Dynamics
The biggest trend I’ve noticed is how quickly operational complexity has grown and is being abstracted by tools that provide less clarity into the underlying systems and processes. Teams are dealing with more vendors, more software-driven technology and more pressure to move faster with fewer people. That shift has made the quality of their operational data far more important than it used to be. I’ve also seen a real change in expectations. Teams want cleaner information and fewer surprises. They’re tired of chasing the basics.
The impact is showing up in day-to-day decisions. When teams don’t have a clear picture of their assets, production planning gets harder, maintenance gets reactive and budgets stretch further than they should. On the flip side, the groups who have tightened up their data are already seeing smoother operations and lower costs. They spend less time firefighting and more time actually producing.
I think 2026 will push organisations to take their operational data more seriously. The demands on engineering and operations aren’t slowing down, and the mix of on-prem, cloud and remote setups only adds to the challenge. Teams will expect better visibility as standard. They won’t accept guesswork in areas that directly affect cost, risk and delivery.
We’ll see more focus on aligning engineering, operations and finance. Those groups have always been linked, but the connection hasn’t been clear in most organisations. As budgets tighten and expectations rise, that alignment becomes essential. I also think we’ll see greater attention on the lifecycle of assets. Not just what they cost, but how they’re used, how long they last and how well they support the work. It’s a simple idea, but it changes the way teams plan and invest.
Sam Peterson, COO, Bitcentral
The defining shift in 2025 was the move from debating cloud to operationalising hybrid cloud-native workflows at scale. Broadcasters are now designing around a mixed environment where cloud elasticity supports peak demand, while on-prem remains the anchor for predictable performance. That balance is giving teams control without sacrificing speed.
The second major trend was the maturation of AI-driven media-asset intelligence. Automation around metadata, content discovery, and clip retrieval is transforming how fast teams can repurpose and monetise their libraries. AI isn’t replacing editorial judgment, but it is removing the friction that has slowed newsrooms and production teams for years.
Finally, workflow simplification has become a strategic priority. Media companies are consolidating tools, eliminating redundant processes, and prioritising systems that reduce operational burden. Efficiency is becoming just as critical as innovation. This shift isn’t just operational housekeeping. It’s freeing teams to focus on storytelling, speed to air, and monetisation, which is a key competitive advantage.
The impact has been both immediate and foundational. Hybrid cloud workflows provide media and entertainment companies with real flexibility, enabling remote collaboration, rapid scaling, and global distribution without the heavy CapEx burden of a traditional broadcast infrastructure. This unlocks agility for launching pop-up channels, international feeds, or OTT and FAST services without overhauling legacy systems.
AI-powered asset management and automated metadata generation are reshaping the economics of content operations. When AI handles tagging, indexing, search, and even initial quality control, teams reclaim hours previously lost to manual labour, meaning faster time-to-air, more efficient reuse of archival content, and better monetisation of existing libraries.
The drive toward workflow simplification is impacting culture as much as technology. By reducing friction from ingest, edit, to distribution, teams are spending less time chasing assets and more time shaping content strategy and audience engagement. The result is a more responsive, data-aware production environment that supports faster decisions, better monetisation, and critically – more space for genuine creative work.
We can expect the shift to hybrid cloud-native workflows to deepen with more broadcasters combining cloud and on-prem systems not just for storage and playout, but for full production and post-production pipelines. The industry is steadily embracing cloud-based media orchestration services, and the next 12 months should see a growing share of media companies operating hybrid clouds for editing, collaboration, and distribution.
At the same time, AI-driven asset management and ‘agentic AI’ will transition from nice-to-have to foundational. We are already seeing this take shape, but it will evolve in 2026. AI will increasingly power everyday workflows, automatically tagging metadata, indexing footage, assisting in search, and even pre-assembling clips for review. For media organisations, that means dramatically faster turnaround, smarter reuse of archives, and more consistent quality across large content libraries.
A notable trend emerging for 2026 is practical ‘coopetition’. Broadcasters, vendors, and platforms are recognising that shared standards, shared tooling, and selective collaboration reduce operational burden and allow resources to be deployed more strategically. As content moves across more platforms and partners, cooperation is becoming an operational necessity.
We also expect AI-enabled interoperability to grow quickly. AI will make it easier to connect disparate systems, automate handoffs between organisations, streamline compliance, and unlock new ways to manage complex distribution chains. This is particularly important as media companies expand across multiple digital environments with different technical requirements.
Together, these shifts point to a more connected and efficient global media ecosystem, where intelligent automation and strategic partnerships play a central role in how organisations scale and compete.
Suzana Brady, SVP of worldwide sales and marketing for Cobalt Digital, Inc.
One major trend in 2025 was IPMX, which brings SMPTE 2110 to the pro-AV and to the corporate communications world, and makes it plug-and-play. The pro-AV world is currently fragmented into multiple proprietary and closed solutions. Users are forced to choose a vendor and to live with the limitations of that choice. IPMX, on the other hand, is essentially ST 2110 without the complexity. It is a completely open specification, which allows the user to mix and match equipment from different vendors and choose what is best for their applications. IPMX is starting to grow and will become a major player in this arena in the next 3 to 5 years.
Another trend that stood out last year was the continued advances in compression technology and low latency codecs such as JPEG-XS, HTJ2K, and special HEVC modes. Also, there are new trends on transport protocols that are now offering high security and low latency, such as RIST. These allow for reliable transmission of high-quality live material required for remote production.
IP is simply a way to transport the content. However, unlike baseband which has limited reach (just inside the facility), IP can reach across the world. This changes the economics of content production – you can do it all remotely. There are two significant advantages: people need not travel, reducing expenses, and you can get better utilisation of your equipment because it does not spend time powered down and being carted from place to place. With advances in compression (reducing the required bit rate for a given quality), improvements in network bandwidth availability, and sophisticated transport protocols such as RIST, remote production has become a reality and will continue to grow.
The IP Media eXperience (IPMX) initiative is a development that deserves attention. In a nutshell, it is SMPTE ST 2110 made easy (and a lot cheaper). It is focused on pro-AV applications, but it also works very well for small broadcasters that want to start transitioning to a full IP plant but lack the money and personnel to do so.
By and large, the spending is driven by sports coverage. That is where the money is, and that is the last “bastion” of live production. However, even in sports, there will be significant pressure to do more with less and find “good enough” solutions. Vendors will need to adapt by creating either more cost-effective solutions, or more integrated solutions – in other words, do the same thing at a lower cost, or do more for the same price.
We will see the result of two existing trends merging: broadcasters trying to do more with less (since money is tight), and the steady growth of the pro-AV market with traditional broadcast vendors entering it. The result will be new cost-effective products directed to the pro-AV market that are good enough to be used in broadcasting since they come from traditional vendors. Over time, the lines between these two markets are going to blur. Industry initiatives such as IPMX will help this happen.
Benno Sonder, senior audio solutions architect (broadcast) at Direct Out
Widespread IP transformation was a standout trend last year. SDI and MADI are now genuinely considered legacy technologies. The trend toward standardisation of audio over IP significantly simplifies multi-brand and hybrid cloud-based solutions.
Immersive audio has become standard. Live sports broadcasts increasingly adopt immersive 3D audio for crowd atmosphere to put the viewer in the midst of the action – for major events like the football World Cup or Olympic games and as well for concerts. On the video side, UHD/HDR is establishing itself as the production format, while 5.1.4/7.1.4 is becoming the standard audio format. Object-based formats are evolving from premium features to basic requirements.
Other notable trends included AI-assisted audio processing: more advanced algorithms help audio engineers cope with a rapidly growing workload, not least in immersive-audio-mixing scenarios. AI tools are being deployed for noise suppression and auto-mixing, fundamentally changing workflows.
CPU-based processing: the shift from dedicated DSP hardware to flexible CPU-based systems enables cloud-based processing and DSP offload scenarios. This increases flexibility while optimising costs.
Hybrid production: technologies such as remote production, IP transition, and cloud-based workflows are enabling more flexible, scalable, and reliable live production workflows. The combination of on-premises, remote, and cloud resources is becoming the new normal.
The industry is seeing infrastructure shift to flexible network-based platforms. Broadcasters are under budget stress because advertising revenue may go down while viewers are shifting from linear broadcast to social media. There is also a movement from software-versus-FPGA decisions toward container-versus-virtual-machine architectures enabling more agile deployments. Media and entertainment is steadily shifting toward more agile, efficient, and distributed production models. The introduction of AI accelerates workflow automation and increases virtualisation. Immersive formats require DSP and format flexibility. Innovations like spatial audio and beamforming microphones enable more precise and immersive audio capture. Software and IP-based approaches offer advantages in flexible processing and variable channel counts compared to hardware-bound solutions.
Interoperability is crucial. Format conversion is indispensable in diverse production environments. A major milestone sign-posted for 2026 is Dante going full ST2110. This clearly demonstrates that interoperability is now an essential part of modern systems.
The trend toward standardisation of IP workflows aims to make deploying audio over IP in broadcast easier and more standardised. Dante’s firmware update with RTP and PTP support is another step in this direction, demonstrating the convergence of various IP audio standards.
Emerging technologies such as edge computing will support the development of immersive and interactive audio formats. Decentralised audio processing closer to the production location minimizes latency – this is precisely where the DirectOut platforms like MAVEN, and PRODIGY will prove its strength.
Individualisation of audio content will increase – from individualised commentator feeds in sports broadcasts to user-defined language mixes at live events. Hardware platforms must be able to process multiple parallel streams with different characteristics simultaneously.
Advances in energy-efficient audio equipment and the adoption of eco-friendly practices are contributing to the reduction of broadcasting’s environmental impact. Flexible platforms with low power consumption and long-term support reduce the carbon footprint while simultaneously responding to increasing financial pressure on broadcasters.
Fabio Varolo, sales manager for FOR-A Europe
The most significant shift I observed in 2025 was broadcasters moving from SDI to IP systems, with the transition reaching a tipping point beyond pilot projects to full production deployment. AI has become very common in editing, quality control, and content creation, moving from experimental to essential in daily workflows. Cloud production has gained serious traction as many companies recognise the operational advantages and cost benefits.
4K and 12G systems have continued their steady growth, whilst XR and virtual production with LED screens have become increasingly popular across a wider range of productions beyond high-end drama.
Work has become faster and more flexible, with remote production significantly easier to accomplish. The combination of cloud and AI is genuinely reducing costs whilst improving operational efficiency, and picture quality improvements are delivering better viewing experiences for audiences.
These changes are enabling production models that weren’t viable with traditional infrastructure, allowing broadcasters to do more with their resources whilst maintaining the operational reliability that audiences depend upon.
More broadcasters will continue moving to IP and cloud systems, building on the foundation established by early adopters. AI will be used even more extensively in daily work, becoming a standard part of production workflows rather than a special feature.
Virtual production will become cheaper and more common as the technology matures and costs decline, making it accessible to a broader range of broadcasters and production companies.
AI will increasingly create quick graphics, provide sports analysis, and generate subtitles in real-time during live production. We’ll see more personalised content for viewers, with broadcasters able to adapt their output based on audience preferences.
There will be a stronger focus on cybersecurity in broadcast as more operations move to IP and cloud infrastructure, making security a core engineering requirement rather than just an IT concern.
Russell Johnson, director of Hitomi Broadcast
The industry’s decisive shift from hybrid workflows to native IP implementations was the standout development of 2025. After years of cautious experimentation, broadcasters are now deploying pure SMPTE ST 2110 infrastructures rather than retrofitting legacy systems. This isn’t simply a technology upgrade – it represents a fundamental reimagining of broadcast operations. We’re seeing major rights holders embrace direct-to-consumer streaming whilst production budgets face increasing constraints, creating pressure to deliver higher production values more efficiently.
The pragmatic adoption of HDR over 4K UHD exemplifies this trend perfectly. Rather than pursuing bandwidth-intensive resolution increases, broadcasters are achieving noticeable quality improvements through HDR implementations at HD resolution. This demonstrates the industry’s maturation – finding smarter ways to deliver impact with constrained resources rather than defaulting to more expensive solutions.
These trends are fundamentally altering how the industry approaches both technical infrastructure and business models. The complexity of IP workflows – with multiple buffers and network paths – has elevated timing and synchronisation from routine technical concerns to critical production challenges. What might seem like minor misalignments in traditional SDI workflows can become significant issues in IP environments, making precise timing verification essential rather than optional.
The transition demands new skill sets – broadcast engineers must now be comfortable with networking concepts and IT-based systems, representing perhaps the biggest cultural shift our industry has experienced.
The transition to software-native broadcast infrastructure will accelerate significantly in 2026. We’re moving beyond the question of “should we adopt IP?” to “how do we optimise within IP environments?” This evolution will be particularly evident in timing verification, where software-based measurements will become essential for managing complex virtualised workflows. Traditional hardware-dependent approaches simply cannot provide the scalability and flexibility modern broadcast operations require.
Sustainability initiatives will drive further innovation in remote production workflows, with distributed teams collaborating across continents more seamlessly. The skills transition will intensify – training programmes must bridge the gap between traditional broadcast engineering and IT-based systems. Sports broadcasting will lead this evolution, as streaming-first distribution models demand timing verification at multiple points throughout software workflows that were previously inaccessible to hardware solutions.
The convergence of broadcast and professional AV sectors will emerge as a significant trend in the coming year. Precision timing measurement – once exclusively a broadcast concern – will become essential across diverse applications like large-scale events demanding perfect multi-screen synchronisation. This expansion reflects the broader democratisation of broadcast-quality technology across professional sectors.
We’ll also see the maturation of software production workflows that analyse timing within software environments themselves, rather than requiring signals to be routed out for external measurement. This “measurement everywhere” approach – from camera capture through to final display – will become the industry standard. The ability to verify glass-to-glass latency across entire signal paths addresses the critical need for understanding timing throughout distribution chains as direct-to-consumer streaming becomes increasingly prevalent.
Kevin Salvidge, sales, engineering and marketing manager, Leader Electronics of Europe
In 2025, several industry trends stood out. First, the acceleration of IP-based production, especially SMPTE 2110 deployments, continues to reshape system design, testing, and operational workflows. Customers are demanding more robust PTP monitoring and tools that simplify the management of increasingly complex timing architectures. Second, remote and distributed production models have become mainstream, driving the need for flexible, compact, and network-aware test and measurement solutions. Finally, the shift toward UHD/HDR and immersive audio remains strong, with broadcasters expecting seamless quality assurance across mixed-format environments. These trends reinforce the importance of precision, interoperability, and real-time insight in modern broadcast operations.
These trends are having a significant impact on the industry. The rapid shift to IP and SMPTE 2110 is redefining engineering skill sets and placing far greater emphasis on timing accuracy, interoperability, and network visibility. Remote and distributed production workflows are reducing on-site costs while increasing reliance on robust monitoring to maintain quality across geographically separated facilities. At the same time, the continued adoption of UHD/HDR and advanced audio formats is raising expectations for consistent, standards-compliant signal integrity. Together, these changes are driving broadcasters to invest in test and measurement solutions that enhance reliability, streamline operations, and ensure seamless viewer experiences.
In 2026, we expect these trends to accelerate as broadcasters mature their IP infrastructures and refine timing strategies. SMPTE 2110 systems will become more deterministic, with tighter PTP management and broader adoption of resilient architectures such as 2022-7 and air-gapped timing layers. Remote and distributed production will evolve into fully hybrid workflows, integrating cloud-based processing with on-prem systems for greater flexibility and scalability. Meanwhile, UHD/HDR and immersive audio will move from premium offerings to standard deliverables, increasing the need for consistent quality assurance. As a result, demand will continue to grow for intelligent, network-aware test and measurement tools that simplify complexity and enhance operational confidence.
Yes, we expect several new trends to emerge in 2026. Broadcasters will place greater emphasis on timing resilience, adopting multi-domain PTP strategies and enhanced monitoring to prevent reference instability in increasingly complex IP infrastructures. AI-assisted diagnostics will begin to play a larger role, helping engineers quickly identify network bottlenecks, signal anomalies, and configuration issues. We also anticipate wider integration of cloud-native contribution and playout, driving the need for hybrid test and measurement tools that operate seamlessly across on-prem, remote, and virtualised environments. Finally, sustainability considerations will influence equipment design, with customers seeking more power-efficient, compact, and software-driven solutions.
Ronen Artman, VP marketing, LiveU
One major trend that stood out in 2025 is the way broadcasters are leveraging AI to streamline routine tasks such as automated captioning, subtitling, metadata tagging, indexing, transcription, and content classification. This operational efficiency is enabling a broader shift from traditional linear programming toward more personalised, viewer-centric experiences, which has become essential as audiences increasingly expect flexibility and customisation
At the same time, remote IP workflows increase opportunities for cinematic live productions, allowing creatives to deliver new experiences to their global fan bases. This acceleration of technology is reshaping the media landscape for smaller-scale productions. It’s enabling content creators with limited budgets to produce high-quality live coverage powered by agile IP workflows that significantly enhance and expand fan engagement. This is particularly important to Gen-Z audiences who increasingly expect greater access to a variety of personalised and immersive niche sports and entertainment experiences streamed directly to their devices.
AI is supporting this transition across key production disciplines, including automated highlight generation, enriched metadata, translation, commentary and analysis. As we head into 2026, a major year for global sport, we will see broadcasters continue to scale their use of AI to meet growing fan expectations across multiple platforms.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, the industry will increasingly integrate AI to orchestrate end-to-end workflows across cloud-based and remote production environments, all underpinned by IP technology. We’ll see multi-layered production models that blend AI, hybrid human AI workflows, and cloud-native processes, marking a new phase for live sports and events that can effectively support tier-one, tier-two, and tier-three content.
We’re seeing several key trends emerge for the coming year, many of which build on momentum from 2025. Firstly, the need for workflow automation is becoming paramount, accelerating AI adoption as a practical tool embedded in operations. This will enable companies to produce even more content for less and orchestrate resources more efficiently as part of an end-to-end automated production workflow.
Secondly, becoming “digital first” within the creator economy in live sports and news production, as organisations increasingly seek to engage with Gen Z and younger audiences – with a growing need to simplify the ingest of digital/IP-based content into traditional workflows.
Thirdly, the accelerated migration to IP, as broadcasters and production companies adopt full-IP and cloud workflows backed by the proven resiliency and high-performance connectivity of IP-video technology.
Rick Young, SVP, head of global products, LTN
A major trend in 2025 was the shift from C-band satellite distribution to IP-based models. Of course, the pace will only pick up in 2026 and beyond. Satellite provides familiar, legacy gear and workflows, and reliability that many are familiar with today. Protocol-only options, like SRT, continue to allow for experimentation and are frequently used for event-based transport where best efforts are good enough. But, delivering live, predictable low latency, mission-critical content 24/7 requires proven, purpose-built IP technology and global infrastructure.
As the industry moves beyond traditional satellite models, driven by pressure on C-band spectrum and rising operational costs, 2026 will mark a clear shift toward IP-based delivery as the default approach. IP transport gives channel creators and sports organisations the flexibility to scale high-quality feeds and introduce new channel variants without the limitations of legacy ground infrastructure.
Networks, sports organisations and publishers of all types will increasingly create premium-quality channels, launch event-specific or pop-up feeds, and offer regionalised or alternative-viewing formats that were previously too costly or complex over satellite. These new variants will help them stand out in a competitive market and better meet partners’ expectations for higher-quality, more tailored content.
Industry consolidation will continue to push broadcasters toward greater operational efficiency. While not entirely earthshattering news at this point, the drive to serve the need to provide more consumer choice, more content on all platforms all with ultimate automation will continue to take centre stage. In 2026, we’ll see a stronger focus on simplifying video workflows so leaner teams can manage and deliver more variants with less complexity. A key part of this evolution will be accelerating the move to IP and phasing out burdensome legacy infrastructure, technology and associated workflows.
Vincent Noyer, CTO at LYNX Technik
In 2025, the most notable trend was the industry’s move toward more balanced, hybrid infrastructures. Rather than a full leap to IP or cloud, many broadcasters are refining how IP and coax coexist in practical, reliable ways. At the same time, we’ve seen renewed interest in on-prem investment as organisations re-evaluate cost predictability, long-term scalability, and control.
Automation also accelerated sharply, especially in sports and live production, enabling broader coverage with smaller teams. And while still early, the conversation around high-frame-rate production has started gaining real traction.
These trends are reshaping the economics of production. Hybrid IP/coax environments are giving broadcasters more flexibility without forcing risky, all-at-once infrastructure changes. The return to on-prem investment is helping organisations regain control over long-term operational costs.
Automation is having perhaps the biggest impact. It’s making production viable for leagues, events, and formats that previously couldn’t justify traditional budgets. This is expanding content output, audience reach, and monetisation opportunities, while also changing the skills required behind the scenes.
Hybrid infrastructures will become the default operational model in 2026, with organisations designing workflows that fluidly move between IP, SDI, cloud, and on-prem environments depending on the application.
Automation will extend even further into live production, not just for efficiency but as a creative enabler without proportional cost increases. At the same time, demand will grow for engineers who understand how to design, operate, and maintain these automated systems.
Amy Zhou, sales director for Magewell
The convergence of broadcast and pro AV markets is accelerating faster than many anticipated. Broadcasters are evaluating consumer-level products while corporate environments demand broadcast-grade capabilities for presentations and communications. As a bridge technology manufacturer, we’re seeing our solutions hit that ‘Goldilocks zone’: broadcast reliability at accessible price points, designed to integrate across different ecosystems rather than lock users into proprietary workflows.
Simultaneously, IP adoption has moved beyond the education phase. A few years ago, trade show conversations centred on explaining NDI benefits. Now, visitors arrive ready to discuss deployment scaling and centralised management strategies for distributed devices.
Budget consciousness is driving smarter infrastructure decisions. Broadcasters need workflows that scale without massive upfront investment, making interoperability with open standards essential rather than optional. For manufacturers, this means broader market reach – but only if products can integrate seamlessly across different ecosystems.
In 2026, IP device management will dominate technical conversations. Technologies like NMOS and NDI V6.x control functions are just the beginning. We expect to see more sophisticated software solutions for discovering, controlling, and monitoring IP devices across mixed environments – because deployment complexity, not the technology itself, remains the real barrier.
AI implementation will mature beyond experimentation, with clearer understanding of what hardware handles best versus software solutions. We’re also seeing demand for higher-density IP devices with software-enabled flexibility – letting broadcasters achieve more functionality in smaller footprints. The real challenge becomes bridging AV, IP, and software in increasingly mixed production environments.
MultiDyne, Neil Maycock, CMO
In 2025, the media industry accelerated its transition from SDI to IP-centric, hybrid production environments, driven by the need for agility, scalability, and interoperability. Broadcasters moved from trials to full ST 2110 deployments, while pro AV outpaced traditional broadcast through rapid digitalisation in corporate, education, and government sectors. At the same time, expectations for broadcast-quality contribution systems rose across AV, and competitive pressure intensified as new IP gateways, optical platforms, and low-cost disruptors reshaped the landscape.
These trends are transforming M&E workflows. Production is becoming location-agnostic, cloud-enabled, and increasingly reliant on distributed teams. Companies are shifting from fixed CAPEX studios to flexible, software-defined, and vendor-neutral IP ecosystems, demanding interoperability, higher technical standards, and seamless hybrid workflows. Fibre transport remains essential, but now as part of broader IP-routed media networks.
In 2026, IP adoption will deepen as the industry moves from early to late majority. We expect expanded use of IP-native cameras and IP-enabled camera backs, faster AV-over-IP growth, especially in APAC, stronger demand for open standards, and continued migration toward cloud-assisted routing and virtualised control. Revenue will increasingly centre on contribution, routing, and hybrid IP workflows.
New 2026 trends will include wider deployment of IP-native acquisition devices, growth of AI-assisted production and monitoring, and heightened focus on security and encryption as IP networks become mission-critical. Modular ecosystems will further replace all-in-one platforms, and cross-vertical convergence – broadcast, ProAV, cine, esports, and immersive venues – will accelerate, creating new opportunities for high-performance, flexible IP transport solutions. With its portfolio and roadmap, MultiDyne is well-positioned to enable this next phase of global media transformation.
Michael Wilsker, senior director of integrated strategy for OpenDrives
Organisations are taking a closer look at how they’re spending on infrastructure, and they’re being more intentional on where they run workloads and store their data. Rather than maintaining a cloud-first strategy or fully switching back to on-premises deployments, we’re seeing the deliberate provisioning – and reprovisioning – of resources for workloads to where it makes the most sense. It’s less of a workflow migration and more of an intentional decision to place workflows where they’ll work best.
The M&E industry is re-evaluating its move to go cloud first and cloud only because they are realising cloud is not the only “home” for their data. There are certainly benefits to the public cloud, particularly around creative workflows, but it’s a double-edged sword. Highly creative workflows use data sets with special properties and requirements, in particular low latency and sustained high-performance data delivery, which come with a cost. And that can be both expensive and variable, especially for project-based media companies where workloads can be inconsistent or spiky.
We’re seeing much more focus on Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than we have in about a decade. So, while we’re still seeing people moving to the cloud, we’re also seeing people being hit with high monthly bills who are trying to stabilise their costs. As a result, some users are partially repatriating workflows from the cloud, building hybrid environments that balance capabilities, cost structures, and risk management, and going where it makes the most sense to them. That said, certain workflows belong on-prem or in hybrid platforms. They are not efficient or secure in the cloud, and ROI isn’t easy to get or maintain. We’re seeing those workflows come back out of the cloud, and that’s where the conversation around storage platforms is focusing today and will continue into 2026.
I think the way that people think about data and hybrid data platforms will evolve. There will be a better understanding of what hybrid actually means and the value propositions that result. Today, there is really no universal definition of hybrid, and therefore one person’s version may be comprised of public cloud connected to on-premises and someone else’s public cloud connected to private cloud, and so on.
There will also be a renewed focus on infrastructure and application modernisation. Take cloud-native, for example. Application developers designing microservices and containers around cloud-native principles will need a modern data “home” to put their cloud-native applications in and manage them properly. They will need a cloud-native hybrid deployment model, which uses a mix of public, private, and on-premises infrastructure. It will give them the cloud flexibility we’re familiar with, but with the security, control, and cost predictability of on-premises.
Having one data home that allows you to access, move, and orchestrate data from anywhere is something our customers want today, and there isn’t one solution for this. There also isn’t one ideal move towards infrastructure (cloud or on-prem) that can help our customers adapt to emerging technologies like AI/ML, which have heavy compute, GPU and storage demands. This is why OpenDrives is working on our new cloud-native data services platform, Astraeus, which enables you to deploy your modern, data-intensive workflows onto one platform and manage everything with the data services built in.
Richard Halton, managing director, UK, Roku
In 2026, success in the broadcast and streaming industry will mean two things: meaningful scale and tangible audience engagement, a shift in the debate from prominence to true relevance. Broadcasters and streamers alike will look for deeper partnerships and explore smarter tech alliances to grow.
From a leadership perspective, I’m watching three areas closely: how the UK manages the shift to all-IP distribution and supports audiences through that transition; how broadcasters open up their linear IP streams; and how consumers increasingly value the TV operating system itself. Helping people understand the value it brings – without overwhelming them – will be essential to building a healthy, competitive and truly user-centred TV environment.
Underlying all of this is data and privacy. The opportunity is to use data to make TV feel simpler, more personal and more relevant. That means thoughtful personalisation, clear user choice, and experiences that genuinely help viewers find what they want rather than pushing what they don’t. If we can strike the right balance between intelligent use of data and meaningful respect for privacy, the entire ecosystem stands to benefit.”
Benjamin Desbois, chief growth and strategy officer at Telestream
The most striking trend in 2025 was a decisive shift away from hype-driven marketing cycles toward far more pragmatic decision-making. Across the industry, there’s growing fatigue with constant change that doesn’t deliver real operational benefit. At the same time, cloud adoption has matured, with organisations becoming much more selective about where it truly adds value, in some cases, opting for a repatriation to on-premises operations.
AI has moved from experimentation into early production use, but with far higher expectations around ROI. Finally, consolidation, both among media companies and vendors, has accelerated, reflecting economic pressures and the need for scale.
These trends are forcing media organisations to confront some hard truths about resilience and long-term sustainability. Legacy workflows and fragmented supply chains are increasingly unable to support today’s content volumes, formats, and distribution demands, while tighter budgets, shrinking teams, and a diminishing tolerance for complexity are all forcing businesses to rethink their tech stacks.
Technology decisions are increasingly judged on their ability to simplify operations, enhance resilience, and reduce manual effort. Vendors must clearly demonstrate value by enabling efficiency and reliability to become more strategic partners.
In the year ahead, cloud strategies will increasingly shift to hybrid and multi-cloud models, driven by cost control and resilience concerns. AI will become less visible as a ‘feature’ and more embedded as an operational layer inside workflows, particularly for automation, QC, metadata, and monitoring. We’ll also see continued consolidation, as both media companies and vendors seek scale, focus, and in some cases, domination. Most importantly, the industry will move from incremental fixes toward more fundamental re-architecture of the media supply chain.
One emerging trend in 2026 will be a much stronger emphasis on observability and resilience across the entire media workflow, particularly as certain tasks will be managed by agentic AI, with human-in-the-loop oversight. As infrastructure becomes more distributed, spanning on-premises, cloud, and live IP networks, visibility and assurance will be just as critical as automation.
Another shift that’s been made clear is the growing demand for interoperable, ecosystem-based solutions rather than single-vendor stacks. Finally, we’ll see organisations prioritise technologies that reduce cognitive and operational load on teams, enabling them to manage more content with fewer resources while maintaining quality and trust.
Nicole D’Antuono, head of sales, VCOM
A new generation of professionals is joining the industry motivated by a shift in consumer expectations and driven by a technology evolution. This new workforce is accelerating the transition of legacy workflows to flexible, cloud-enabled collaborative, and resilient solutions that prioritise ease of use, remote accessibility, and operational efficiency.
This evolution is forcing organisations to rethink how they design and maintain their infrastructures. Broadcasters are prioritising highly interoperable solutions that integrate seamlessly with legacy equipment and into existing environments, adapting as technologies and audience expectations change. By investing in platforms that are continuously improved and supported, broadcasters can future-proof their operations, reduce integration complexity, and position themselves to leverage emerging innovations.
Customers’ priorities are evolving as we move into 2026. They are placing greater value on secure, reliable, and collaborative partnerships. Comprehensive support contracts that guarantee software and devices remain up to date and compliant will be a priority. Customers will also continue to show a deep appreciation for proactive engagement, emphasising responsive, high-quality support and a clear commitment to their feature requests. This shift reflects a desire for long-term partnerships that help them achieve their goals efficiently.
We are seeing a rise in hybrid intercom systems that marry the flexibility of software with the reliability of hardware. With our new line of state-of-the-art hardware-based products we are positioned to accommodate this shift and deliver a comprehensive, future-ready communication ecosystem for our customers.
