In 2025, the industry became focused on making the software-defined broadcast environment a practical reality. The core challenge—and opportunity—now centres on how to leverage standard IT equipment (CPUs, GPUs, and modern networking) to power live production workflows without compromising the principles that matter most: quality, responsiveness, latency, determinism, and redundancy. Broadcasters increasingly recognise that software running on general-purpose compute is the only sustainable long-term path to reducing costs while expanding production capabilities.
This shift is not about choosing between on-premises infrastructure or cloud environments, but about understanding how to orchestrate the right resources at the right time. Whether compute runs on-prem, in a private cloud, or in the public cloud, the goal is to allocate and scale resources based on the specific requirements of each production. The focus is on enabling software-based media functions to interconnect, scale, and adapt dynamically, rather than being constrained by fixed hardware signal paths.
The EBU’s Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) is proof that the industry is now fully engaged in this transition. The DMF vision validates many of the architectural patterns already emerging across the market and reinforces the idea that software-defined, dynamically orchestrated production is the only sustainable way forward.
At the centre of this momentum is the Media eXchange Layer (MXL)—a high-performance, open data plane designed for real-time media exchange between containerised functions. Unlike synchronous transports such as SDI or ST 2110, MXL supports asynchronous, IT-native media communication, which is essential as production workflows shift toward distributed compute and microservices.
Matrox ORIGIN, introduced at NAB 2023, was architected from day one to support this evolution. It offers the complete technology stack needed to achieve the DMF vision, including an MXL-compatible asynchronous media fabric that broadcasters and developers can deploy now, not years from now.
Automation is also entering a new phase. In 2026, automation will progress from simple task reduction to intelligent infrastructure orchestration. Instead of manually provisioning compute, bandwidth, or processing power, systems will interpret production requirements and automatically spin up, route, and retire the precise resources needed.
This leads directly to the concept of minimum viable infrastructure (MVI)—the smallest, most cost-effective combination of compute, I/O, and network capacity required to meet the creative and technical demands of each production. With MVI, broadcasters can scale efficiently from hyper-local sports to major global events, unlocking new monetisation opportunities including targeted feeds, event-specific packaging, and personalised live experiences.
By the end of 2026, major broadcasters will be able to point to fully realised DMFs not as theoretical constructs but as operational business engines. Organisations will quantify—even in financial terms—how much cost was avoided and how much new revenue was generated by adopting DMF-aligned, microservices-driven infrastructures. The industry’s technological transformation will have matured into an economic one, redefining how production scale and business opportunity intersect.
