Despite growing global climate concerns, environmental responsibility remains a low priority for much of the broadcast and streaming sector. While sustainability is increasingly featured in marketing and sales pitches, actual efforts to measure and reduce carbon emissions often lack rigor and standardization. “It’s not that companies don’t care,” said Simon Parkinson, managing director of Dot Group. “It’s that they don’t measure carbon footprint as well as is needed. Currently, this is still too often a manual ‘checklist’ based method. The data captured and ensuing actions are slow, incomplete and sub-optimal.”
This data gap isn't just a technical issue but a significant barrier to change. Without accurate metrics, it's difficult to verify impact, incentivize reductions, or create effective strategies. “Reporting, unfortunately, often relies on estimates based on spending, rather than a usage-based approach with actual measurements,” said Kristan Bullett, CEO of Humans Not Robots. “This creates a situation where real optimizations and reductions aren’t properly reflected.”
A 2025 report from InterDigital and Futuresource Consulting revealed that streaming accounts for 4% of global carbon emissions, twice that of aviation. This includes energy use across the entire video value chain: production, delivery, and device playback. The report states each hour of film production equates to about 16.6 metric tons of CO₂, similar to the annual energy use of two homes. Major events like the 2024 Paris Olympics had estimated media-related footprints exceeding 600 million tons of CO₂, with 1.25 terawatt-hours of electricity consumed from viewing alone. Scope 3 emissions – indirect emissions from travel, catering, and post-production – represent a significant unknown for media organizations.
Parkinson emphasized allocating emissions data to individual productions and vendors, stating, “the full production lifecycle carbon footprint needs to be captured and allocated accurately.” While European broadcasters, including the BBC, Sky, and Channel 4, have initiated measurement programs, U.S. adoption remains inconsistent. “In the U.S., the focus on energy independence and fossil fuel extraction has grown,” said Bullett. “Meanwhile, European broadcasters and telcos are prioritizing sustainability, emphasizing ‘measure, measure, measure.’” A 2024 Sony Europe survey highlighted cultural and organizational inertia. While 73% of respondents reported sustainability improvements, fewer than half indicated active company investment. Key barriers included financial constraints (47%), outdated mindsets (41%), and a lack of sustainable products (28%).
Parkinson believes outdated manual reporting contributes to the problem. “Platforms that require human data entry will never be real-time nor pinpoint accurate,” he said. “Automated monitoring of virtual machines and cloud environments provides the minute detail necessary for meaningful optimization.” Cloud-based workflows enable broadcasters to scale energy use to production needs. “Historically, production infrastructure ran at peak capacity all the time,” said Jason O’Malley, senior partner solutions architect at Amazon Web Services. “Now, we can provision resources just for live events and release them immediately afterward.”
Solving the sustainability challenge requires data. Real-time, production-specific measurement is crucial for environmental and business benefits. “Unless reductions are captured and reflected in reporting, there’s no incentive to change,” Bullett noted. Parkinson added that better data fosters internal alignment and external credibility. “Sustainable practices signal innovation and ethics,” Parkinson said. “They also open doors to new sponsorship opportunities with environmentally focused brands.” However, as Sony’s Olivier Bovis noted, “Beyond the financial aspect, we found a change in mindsets is what most needs to take place… Sustainability should be considered a currency used to implement changes.” Without better measurement, sustainability remains a topic easily discussed but easily ignored.