CGI’s OpenMedia has been at the forefront of newsroom workflows for almost 30 years. Trusted by broadcasters around the world, the collaboration platform provides journalists with the functionality needed to deliver breaking news.
Newsrooms have transformed during the last three decades, and at IBC2026, CGI will showcase OpenMedia Evolve, the next generation of the platform designed to bring news teams together to generate content across broadcast, digital and social channels.
With newsrooms under increasing pressure to do ‘more for less’, CGI hasn’t “reinvented the wheel,” says Alan Dickie, client services director for OpenMedia. “Instead, we’ve taken the opportunity to create something fit for the future.”
The platform provides what CGI describes as a “single source of truth” where editorial teams can:
- plan stories
- create and edit content
- collaborate across teams
- manage tasks
- publish to multiple platforms
“The story-centric approach is something that we think clients need to be invested in,” adds Dickie. “OpenMedia Classic was at the forefront of that. We were the first production system to have a centralised Story Bin, even though at the time we didn’t have digital broadcasting as part of our toolset.”
Centralising all assets within a dedicated space means every artefact related to a story is in one accessible location, enabling shared editorial reviews and governance. But as digital-first content grew, so did organisational and technical silos. “We’ve always been there to try and break those silos and support our clients to tell their story in the best way possible,” says Dickie. “OpenMedia Evolve gives users more intuitive ways of employing the same artefacts and decisions.”
By providing enhanced planning and task management, the platform enables teams to track stories and workflows effectively. Users can subscribe to relevant topics and receive alerts on updates to ensure they stay informed.
One of the most significant advancements is the introduction of a real-time collaborative editor, which allows multiple journalists to work simultaneously on a single story while tracking live changes from colleagues. “OpenMedia Evolve has tools we never even dreamed were possible when OpenMedia was first being developed 30 years ago,” adds Dickie.
The platform also helps editorial teams manage multi-channel distribution efficiently by centralising assets within a single Story Folder, building on the Story Bin approach established in OpenMedia Classic. Dickie describes OpenMedia Evolve as playing a “supporting role” as clients make decisions about revamping their workflows. “The platform drives efficiencies within the teams, and we all know that broadcasters across the globe are under a huge amount of pressure, cost-wise.”
OpenMedia Evolve’s first production release is scheduled for November 2026. This release will include AI functionality to assist journalists with metadata tagging, summarisation, translation and workflow automation while maintaining editorial oversight and control. The aim is to save editorial teams time so that they can concentrate on what they do best, delivering the news. “Assisting is definitely the approach news teams want to take. No change will be made without the explicit approval of either the journalist or an editor, and certainly nothing would be broadcast or published without that explicit approval as well.”
OpenMedia Evolve is being introduced in phases as customers begin adopting the platform alongside existing OpenMedia environments. The new rundown functionality will have its public unveiling at IBC2026 in September. “The rundown is one of the most complex areas for any newsroom system but we have retained the experience of the team who developed OpenMedia Classic while combining it with modern software development techniques,” says Dickie. “Everybody we’ve shown it to so far has just been astounded by the level of progress that we’ve made, and we’re over the moon about that.”
Developing technology that works for the end-user is critical. CGI’s design and user experience teams have been working closely with clients throughout the development of OpenMedia Evolve. During development of the rundown functionality, CGI held a forum involving 30 stakeholders from a dozen broadcast organisations to understand how they use rundowns today, the challenges they face and their future requirements. “That level of interaction is fantastic, and that allows us to not only develop for the challenges we’re facing now, but also for the future,” says Dickie.
Visit CGI at Stand 8.B47, Hall 8 at IBC2026 from 11-14 September.
