As tens of thousands of media professionals prepare for IBC 2025 in Amsterdam (September 12-15), the broadcast technology industry faces significant shifts. This year’s International Broadcasting Convention reflects an industry grappling with economic pressures, technological transformation, and evolving audience expectations.
The event will feature discussions on operational efficiency, collaborative standards development, and strategic responses to viewer fatigue in an oversaturated streaming market. Global economic headwinds have increased demands for efficiency, forcing companies to rethink strategies. Content licensing costs are rising, while traditional revenue streams face pressure, accelerating industry adaptation. “Global economic pressures are intensifying the need to ‘do more with less,’ pushing media organisations to streamline operations and maximise existing resources,” said Aaron Kroger, director of product marketing and communications at Dalet. “This pressure is accelerating the demand for faster ROI, with new investments expected to deliver measurable returns within months rather than years.”
The impact is particularly significant in sports broadcasting, where licensing costs are soaring. Archive content is gaining importance as a revenue source, and hybrid infrastructure is emerging as a cost-control measure. The proliferation of streaming services has led to platform fatigue, with viewers becoming more selective. “Platform fatigue and shifting loyalty are pushing content owners to secure broad distribution, and to focus on viewer retention and engagement, and fresher programming strategies,” said Blair Harrison, founder and CEO of Frequency. “FAST channel creators need to use data to optimize programming in near real-time.”
Free ad-supported television (FAST) and AVOD services are becoming more sophisticated, leveraging AI and real-time optimization. Streaming at scale remains technically challenging, requiring a balance between quality and efficiency. AI is now integral to production, automating tasks and expanding creative possibilities. “AI is transforming content production end-to-end. Automating scripting, enriching live production with real-time tagging, and accelerating post with instant highlights, edits, and localization,” said Ross Tanner, senior vice president for EMEA at Magnifi.
However, AI’s value extends beyond creative tools; it addresses backend processes, from automated metadata management to insight generation. Infrastructure automation is crucial, allowing AI systems to monitor performance and adjust resources predictively. Hybrid infrastructure (combining on-premises and cloud) has become the standard for modern content production. “Hybrid production environments have become the new operational standard — not just a steppingstone — as media companies balance the economics of 24/7 broadcasting with the agility of cloud-based workflows,” said Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications.
Live sports production exemplifies the hybrid model’s benefits, combining centralized control with distributed resources. Remote production reduces on-site personnel, while cloud resources provide overflow capacity. Despite the benefits of cloud-based production, challenges remain in scaling cloud-native infrastructure globally. Protocol bottlenecks, cost predictability, and legacy integration complexity hinder cloud adoption. “The biggest barrier isn’t bandwidth or storage capacity, it’s the protocol bottlenecks that choke your infrastructure when you need it most,” said Duncan Beattie, market development manager at Tuxera.
The shift to cloud-based, remote workflows is becoming the standard for sports broadcasting, fundamentally changing how live sports content is produced and distributed. AI is playing a key role, automatically detecting key moments and generating clips in real-time. However, challenges related to reliability and integration persist. With the fragmentation of audiences across multiple devices, maintaining fan engagement is crucial. Traditional broadcast models are giving way to interactive, personalized experiences. “We’re moving into a multi-screen culture where data, interactivity, and gamification play a central role in fan engagement,” said Mark Cooke, VP of sales in EMEA at Ross Video.
VR and AR platforms are evolving into viable commercial platforms, and the scale of live streaming events demands advanced ad insertion systems compliant with privacy regulations. The lines between programmatic and broadcast advertising are blurring. “As viewing habits evolve and technology advances, the divide between programmatic and broadcast is quickly disappearing,” said Avi Yampolsky, vice president of international accounts at Operative.
Media companies are focusing on audience-centric approaches, treating viewers as the primary asset. “We’re seeing a foundational shift in how media companies approach monetization,” said Reynolds. “Many are moving away from selling discrete ad slots in favor of treating audiences themselves as the inventory.” AI is enabling personalization across the entire content lifecycle. IBC 2025 aims to foster industry-wide initiatives on standards, interoperability, and shared problem-solving. “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,” said Miroslav Jeras, CTO of Pebble. “We will all benefit when broadcasters can freely choose the best option for each function.”
IBC 2025 serves as a platform for showcasing practical solutions and fostering collaboration to address shared industry concerns.