As the media industry gears up for IBC 2025 in Amsterdam this September, a common theme emerges: collaboration is crucial for overcoming the challenges facing broadcasting and media. Technology vendors and industry leaders agree that IBC’s value surpasses product demonstrations; it provides a platform for vital face-to-face discussions. These discussions aim to establish open standards and collaborative frameworks for the entire industry.
Interoperability is a central theme for IBC 2025. Many vendors are highlighting initiatives aimed at eliminating vendor lock-in and enabling more adaptable system architectures. The Media Exchange Layer (MXL) initiative is gaining significant traction as a solution to integration challenges within virtualized environments. Chris Scheck, head of marketing content at Lawo, a contributor to MXL, stated, “As a contributor to the budding Media Exchange Layer initiative, Lawo is especially keen to learn how this approach is received by broadcasters who start feeling the pinch.” He further explained, “The promise of MXL is that users will be able to avoid vendor lock-in on generic servers where processing apps from different vendors not only run side by side, but also exchange data via a so-called shared memory layer, to avoid latency issues.”
Miroslav Jeras, Pebble’s CTO, highlighted the wider implications of such standards initiatives: “There has been a brake on the adoption of wider software infrastructures and the adoption of the cloud: the lack of open standards for interoperability,” said Jeras. “Initiatives like MXL should enable system architects to build multi-vendor platforms in virtualized environments without the need for bespoke integration work.”
The shift towards IP-based workflows remains a prominent trend. However, vendors emphasize the need for industry-wide coordination for successful adoption. John Henkel, product marketing director at Netgear AV, predicted, “In the next five years, I believe that we will see the full embrace of IP in the broadcast and Pro AV worlds. I think we will see a mix of standards and protocols being adopted, depending on applications, from ST 2110 and IPMX to NDI and Dante.”
Ian Wagdin, VP tech and innovation at Appear, sees IBC 2025 as a turning point: “IBC2025 promises to be a pivotal moment for aligning around a more open, software-centric broadcast future,” said Wagdin. “As an industry, the priority should be on integration over isolation: developing vendor-agnostic solutions, embracing open standards, and designing for observability, orchestration, and security from the ground up.”
Industry leaders consistently highlight the unique value of IBC’s in-person format for fostering collaboration. Sid Stanley, managing director at Calrec, noted, “The conversations the industry needs to prioritize is how to cost-effectively unlock efficient, agile and sustainable workflows whilst delivering premium content at scale. These conversations are more productive when we meet with customers face-to-face. IBC gives us the opportunity to listen, explore and to understand what our customers need to be successful.”
The networking benefits extend beyond customer relationships to encompass vendor partnerships. Henkel added, “Being able to meet with our existing partners and build new relationships is key for us — we have nearly 500 manufacturing partners now, many of whom use our switches and access points themselves, and more than 100 who will be at IBC.”
Several vendors advocate for formal certification programs to ensure system compatibility. Jeras emphasized, “As an industry, we have to push for interoperability certification programs, like the ones we saw in the early days of on-prem IP adoption. We will all benefit when broadcasters can freely choose the best option for each function — whether it’s automation, graphics, or encoding — and know that all of them will work seamlessly together through agreed standards like MXL, rather than being locked into one supplier.” He added, “The significance is not just in the reduction in cost, but in the speed to deliver systems without compromising on quality or functionality.”
The media industry's transformation requires a unified approach, not isolated efforts. Aaron Kroger, director of product marketing and communications at Dalet, stated, “I am looking forward to having open conversations with customers and other vendors about how we need to evolve as an industry. We are seeing big shifts in consumption trends, increased economic pressure, and a constant stream of new innovations, which all lead to the need for rapid change which is not the historic norm for this industry.” He further noted the impact of changing consumer expectations: “Our consumers are outpacing us as an industry and we need to come together as a whole as discuss how we will address this.”
Organizations like IBC and major broadcasters play a critical role in fostering standards initiatives. Jeras stressed, “Widely adopted standards and working practices benefit everyone: users and vendors alike. Independent bodies like IBC, and the major broadcasters who attend, have a responsibility to bring everyone to the table to push forward on initiatives like MXL, helping everyone meet their business’s ambitions technically, creatively and commercially.” Chris Evans, head of knowledge and insight at IABM, added, “In this environment, we should be discussing how excellence in leadership is vital for our industry to not only successfully navigate change but set a path for a sustainable future.”
Customer demand for flexible technology choices is driving the push for interoperability. Noëlle Prat, sales and marketing director at BCE, highlighted, “Platformization of operations: vendors exposing orchestration, connectors, usage analytics and support as a unified service layer. This enables faster launches, measurable cost control, and avoids lock-in through open, API-first approaches.”
Vendors emphasize the importance of practical implementation over theoretical frameworks. Wagdin stated, “We’re most excited about showcasing how these tools are being used in the real world at the heart of scalable, sustainable operations. These are the conversations that will shape the next phase of global media innovation.” Many vendors plan to showcase working implementations of interoperability standards instead of just roadmaps.
The current economic climate adds urgency to collaborative efforts. Jeras concluded, “The value of IBC is in bringing the media industry from around the world together, making it the right place for important conversations. Everyone agrees that the top priority is to drive economies to maintain commercial viability in the industry: the conversations at IBC will be how we achieve this goal.” IBC 2025 is being framed not merely as a product showcase, but as a critical forum for industry-wide problem-solving.