While the cloud was initially seen as the future of broadcasting, with predictions that all production and playout would eventually migrate online, the reality is not so simple. As companies began analysing the total cost of operations, they recognised that continuous cloud-based workflows are not always the most cost-effective option. In fact, for 24/7/365 operations, maintaining on-prem infrastructure often makes better financial sense.
As a result, the industry’s focus has shifted toward hybrid strategies: using the cloud where it adds the most value, such as live events and geographically distributed redundancy, while relying on on-prem systems for cost efficiency and control. The next step is building infrastructure that allows production and playout to transition seamlessly between cloud and on-prem. That’s the real game-changer.
Economic, efficiency and environmental considerations
In remote and distributed environments, teams need to deploy resources quickly, adapt to shifting priorities, and scale up or down in real time. The cloud’s on-demand infrastructure makes this possible, enabling broadcasters to spin up services with minimal lead time. Whether delivering live sports coverage from multiple venues, supporting business continuity during maintenance, or creating pop-up channels for special events, media organisations can use the cloud to achieve responsiveness that traditional systems can’t match.
Rather than build fixed infrastructure to accommodate peak demand that only occurs a few times a year, broadcasters can provision cloud resources specifically for those high-demand moments. Complementing existing infrastructure and investment, this approach reduces capital expenses, streamlines operations, and limits space and power requirements. And because cloud platforms operate on a shared, pay-as-you-go model, they help turn fixed infrastructure costs into flexible operating expenses.
But the decision to move to the cloud isn’t an all-or-nothing choice. The most effective strategies combine cloud and on-prem resources in a way that maximises efficiency, minimises waste, and supports both everyday operations and occasional bursts of activity. High-value linear channels with complex workflows may still be best served by dedicated infrastructure, while the cloud is ideal for short-term deployments, remote access, or disaster recovery.
Managing complexity with orchestration and automation
While hybrid environments offer flexibility, they also introduce operational complexity — particularly for live content, which demands seamless coordination across locations and platforms. Replicating playlists, synchronising metadata, and managing signal paths between cloud and on-prem facilities all require orchestration. To be effective at scale, the deployment and connectivity of these systems must be orchestrated.
Modern workflow orchestration tools are designed to unify playout, signal routing, and content management within a single interface. These platforms allow broadcasters to spin up backup or pop-up channels in minutes, automate failovers, and manage dynamic scheduling without engineering intervention. They also enable operators to work across cloud and on-prem systems without needing to worry about where the service is physically hosted.
This kind of orchestrated agility is transformative. Pop-up channels can be launched quickly to support a major live event. Backup channels can be mirrored automatically for redundancy. And as advertising demand shifts during the day, broadcasters can move from a single master playlist to multiple regional feeds, using cloud resources only when justified by incremental ad revenue.
Orchestrated agility also applies to automation, where the automated systems can manage ad insertion, rights compliance, and multiplatform delivery in real time, further enhancing overall channel monetisation.
Building for the long term
Ultimately, the convergence of cloud and on-prem operations — with orchestration and automation smoothly bridging the gap — enables more flexible, sustainable, and scalable broadcast operations. As a result, media companies can experiment and expand without overextending.
As organisations focus not on choosing between cloud and on-prem, but on integrating them effectively, they will succeed by identifying which workflows are best suited to the cloud, which require dedicated infrastructure, and how orchestration tools can improve efficiency while eliminating friction.
No longer a transitional step from ground to cloud, hybrid operations are evolving and maturing to give media organisations the best of both worlds. By thoughtfully balancing cloud scalability with the familiarity of on-prem systems, broadcasters can reduce costs, increase efficiency, and respond faster to both operational needs and audience expectations. When paired with intelligent orchestration and automation, this model creates the foundation for truly adaptive production and playout.
