Industry Insights: What sustainability actually looks like in media production workflows

Talk of sustainability in broadcasting often centers on long-term ambition, but how much of it translates into daily operations?

In part two of this Industry Insights roundtable, vendors and technologists dig into the practical side: how sustainability can be built into broadcast production workflows without sacrificing quality, efficiency or cost.

While ideas like remote production and power-efficient technologies show promise, they require alignment across the entire chain, from leadership to crew, vendors to integrators. Participants also explore the cost benefits of sustainability, the role of digital tools in energy management, and whether industry collaboration can accelerate real adoption or simply create more noise.

Key takeaways from this Industry Insights roundtable

• Sustainability starts early: Major environmental savings can be realized at the design and planning stages through better forecasting, efficient equipment, and reduced physical waste.
• Digital tools help scale: Cloud-based and AI-driven tools allow production teams to scale resources to actual needs, improving energy efficiency and cutting waste.
• Remote workflows reduce travel: Remote production continues to play a major role in reducing carbon emissions by minimizing the need for crew transport and temporary infrastructure.
• Cost savings follow efficiency: From energy bills to equipment maintenance, sustainable practices often lead to measurable long-term cost reductions.
• Collaboration is key: Broad adoption requires transparency, shared benchmarks, and willingness among vendors and broadcasters to push beyond marketing claims toward standardized action.

How can sustainable practices be integrated into broadcast production?

Jason O’Malley, senior partner solutions architect, media and telecom global partners, Amazon Web Services: To embed more sustainable practices into broadcast production, leaders should clearly define and communicate organizational goals to their teams. Success depends on team members understanding these sustainability targets and their role in achieving them. Progress tracking is essential, and AWS customers can monitor their environmental impact through the AWS Customer Carbon Footprint Tool.

Lesley Marr, director of sustainability and business development, NxtGenBPS: As remote production becomes more common across the industry, it’s important to consider how sustainability fits into these evolving workflows. Replacing diesel generators with battery systems is one of the most immediate changes crews can make, particularly when working across multiple or temporary locations. It takes a bit more planning around equipment loads and logistics, but the right approach can significantly cut emissions and improve conditions on set.

Richard Jonker, VP, marketing and business development, Netgear: 80% of carbon savings can be captured at the design stage. For instance, by using energy-efficient technologies like AV over IP (AVoIP) and Power over Ethernet (PoE). Both reduce cabling and energy consumption while enabling remote management capabilities. Centralizing many small inefficient power supplies into one, well-managed-efficient power source is also a good practice.

Yang Cai, CEO and president, VisualOn: Broadcasters can implement software-driven workflows, cloud-based infrastructure, and efficient encoding practices to reduce energy usage and hardware dependence. By streamlining operations, these sustainable practices not only benefit the environment but also improve agility and cost control.

Roberto Musso, technical director, NDI: First, broadcast production professionals should evaluate what parts of their operation can be reduced without having a major impact on the outcome. Technological advances in the industry have allowed production setups to cut back on energy use and rethink the size and scope of their setups. These changes don’t impact the quality of the production but rather require a more intentional approach during the planning process or reevaluation of existing systems.

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Colby Winegar, CEO, Storj: Broadcasters can focus efforts in various ways, using locally available talent instead of flying or driving to news events, choosing vendors that are serious about sustainability efforts, and using tools that are committed to carbon neutrality.

Andy Fonatana, technical product specialist, Leica Geosystems: Leica Geosystems’ technology is used to create pre-visualizations in the 3D true-scale digital set environment, which allows for better planning. That results in fewer changes when it comes time to shoot, and that saves the production both time and money.

Simon Parkinson, managing director, Dot Group: Broadcast production can incorporate sustainable practices through various approaches, with an increasingly effective method being real-time monitoring and management of digital infrastructure. As productions utilize cloud environments for workflows, efficiency in these digital resources becomes a critical environmental consideration. Unlike manual reporting systems, automated monitoring of servers, virtual machines, and cloud environments provides the minute detail necessary for meaningful optimization.

Richard Rees, CEO, QuickLink: One effective approach to integrating sustainable practices into broadcast production is the use of remote and cloud-based production, reducing the need for on-site crew and talent, thereby lowering emissions from travel and transport. Another important strategy involves designing energy-efficient studios that utilize LED lighting, low-power equipment and intelligent HVAC systems to significantly reduce energy consumption. Additionally, sustainable set design also plays a key role in minimizing physical waste, smart scheduling — such as optimizing shoot days, reducing idle time, and leveraging automation — can improve operational efficiency and lower resource use and implementing eco-friendly broadcasting practices, like hybrid remote guest solutions, helps reduce the carbon footprint of remote contributions.

Broadcast industry faces complex balance between technology and sustainability

How do digital tools optimize energy consumption during broadcast production?

Jason O’Malley: Historically, broadcast production has relied on fixed hardware that’s rarely upgraded and runs continuously at peak capacity, regardless of usage. Cloud-based tools and workflows offer a more efficient solution, enabling broadcasters to scale resources up or down based on specific production needs with just a few clicks. In sports broadcasting, for instance, resources can be provisioned solely for game days and released afterward.

Richard Jonker: AVoIP and PoE technologies can significantly reduce energy consumption by running on lower voltage compared to AC power, requiring fewer outlets and enabling remote monitoring to control usage. Cloud-based management systems can intelligently power equipment on shortly before it’s needed and turn everything off when done, while centralized data centers regulate power consumption more efficiently than distributed processing devices.

Yang Cai: Tools like VisualOn Optimizer function as a pre-processing layer that works before or in parallel with the transcoding stage. It leverages AI-driven content analysis to recognize scene complexity, motion, texture, and perceptual importance. Based on this analysis, it dynamically selects the most efficient encoding parameters for each segment of content. This intelligent parameter tuning is then passed to the encoder, allowing the system to achieve lower bitrates without compromising perceptual quality.

Roberto Musso: Digital tools offer more flexibility for broadcast production teams to use only what they need. Software-based production systems, including those using NDI, can be scaled dynamically and consume less power than traditional hardware-intensive setups. Digitalization has allowed productions to adjust their setups based on needs, ultimately allowing them to save time and money.

Marcus B. Brodersen, CEO, Pixotope: The shift from hardware-based video processing to software-defined workflows means broadcasters can consolidate multiple production functions onto energy-efficient servers rather than running power-hungry dedicated appliances that sit idle much of the time. What’s particularly exciting is how our latest algorithms optimize real-time rendering to maintain visual quality while reducing the processing overhead required, directly translating to lower energy consumption across the production chain.

How are sustainable production practices translating into long-term cost savings?

Lesley Marr: Switching from diesel to battery power can reduce costs over time, particularly on fuel and maintenance. Solar offers a consistent, free source of energy that helps bring day-to-day running costs down. Many productions still overestimate how much power they need, so better planning can help avoid overspending on kit that isn’t actually required.

Richard Jonker: Brands with sustainability as a core focus are growing 50% faster, and more profitable, than their competitors, while embedding environmentally conscious policies in their business operations has given companies 40% higher return. Cost savings come from reduced energy consumption, simplified wiring that’s less prone to errors, centralized management that eliminates the need for multiple power supplies, and decreased maintenance costs through remote monitoring and management.

Yang Cai: Energy-efficient streaming and encoding lower data center usage, bandwidth costs, and hardware wear over time. These reductions in operational expenses deliver measurable ROI while helping companies meet environmental goals.

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Erling Hedkvist, business development manager, Arkona and Manifold: There is huge push in the industry towards software-based products based on COTS infrastructure. However, most of the available solutions rely on CPU/GPU based architectures that require 10 times the amount of power and cooling as opposed to FPGA based processing. When combining software virtualization with FPGA compute it is possible to provide significant cost savings due to efficient power consumption and consequently much less HVAC.

Roberto Musso: Often, sustainability results in affordability. When it comes to broadcast production, less physical equipment, fewer travel days and smaller crews lead to saving on costs over time. Productions may not see an immediate result, but over time, it can add up to significant savings.

Andy Fonatana: The use of Leica’s technology allows for productions to spend less time in the studio, operate with fewer people, and incorporate fewer costly set changes. All of these factor into time savings, with the added benefit of higher-quality output which result in long-term cost savings.

Simon Parkinson: Sustainable production practices deliver tangible cost savings when implemented with a focus on automated monitoring and intelligent resource management. By implementing real-time monitoring of IT infrastructure, broadcasters can identify and eliminate waste that manual reporting systems would miss. This precision allows for optimization of resource utilization, reducing both energy consumption and computing expenses.

Richard Rees: Adopting sustainable production practices is no longer just an environmental responsibility — it’s a strategic business advantage, as reducing energy consumption, optimizing resource use and implementing more efficient workflows directly translates to long-term cost savings by minimizing travel, accommodation and venue-related expenses. Transitioning from traditional, power-intensive equipment to energy-efficient alternatives — such as LED lighting and cloud-based infrastructure — significantly lowers electricity usage and operational overheads. Likewise, smart waste reduction strategies, like implementing digital asset management systems, reduce reliance on physical media and unnecessary storage, streamlining workflows and boosting productivity.

How do production companies incorporate sustainability into their overall corporate strategies?

Colby Winegar: Production companies dedicated to sustainability efforts will evaluate and choose vendors who have pledged to reduce carbon emissions with their products and solutions.

Andy Fonatana: Production companies are working hard to streamline their workflows to reduce how much energy and manpower (and therefore costs) required. They are also trying to reduce material usage and waste by improving efficiency. The less time needed on set, the less a production consumes on every level.

How can collaboration among industry stakeholders accelerate the adoption of greener production methods?

Jason O’Malley: Increased sharing of industry best practices, key learnings, and case studies will lead to broader awareness of sustainable broadcast approaches while demonstrating that environmental goals can align with business objectives. At AWS, we share how our media customers’ have achieved sustainability goals. The National Hockey League (NHL), UKTV, and Amazon Prime Video are great examples of what’s possible. We also provide technical guidance on using cloud technology to reduce operational footprints, improving efficiency and reducing waste.

Richard Jonker: The sustainability challenge requires cooperation from everyone in the production chain, and promotes collaboration over competition among manufacturers, resellers, installers and integrators. A great approach for instance is driving collaboration among manufacturers by agencies like Broadtek with their AVoiPoE initative, bringing system integrators, consultants, and end users together to create end-to-end solutions at a much higher level that inspire customer confidence in sustainable technologies.

Roberto Musso: Collaboration is a major key to industry-wide success. When people share what is actually working, it helps everyone move faster and increases efficiency. Many industry professionals don’t see this as competition necessarily, but rather progress to achieve a shared goal.

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Colby Winegar: Industry stakeholders need to provide goals, standards, and regulations, as well as share knowledge and create best practices. Additionally, it’s important for production companies to push vendors to adopt sustainability best practices. 

Andy Fonatana: The broadcast industry is tightly-knit and self-evangelizes valuable technology. Technology that enables studios to reduce energy consumption, eliminate waste, and create more cost effective productions will naturally spread and become standardized over time. If it works, they will gravitate toward it.

How is the shift toward remote production contributing to the overall sustainability of broadcast operations?

Jason O’Malley: According to BAFTA Albert’s 2023 Annual Review, travel and transportation are typically the largest average source of carbon emissions in TV production, accounting for 67 percent of carbon emissions in live sports production. To address this, the broadcast industry has begun to rethink how we move crews and equipment. Live Cloud Production enables broadcast operations to reduce its carbon footprint. It virtualizes control room operations – from vision mixers to graphics stations – enabling production staff to work remotely from centralized locations or home. 

Richard Jonker: Remote production enhances broadcast sustainability through technological consolidation, with PoE networks enabling cameras and equipment to operate on unified, thinner cabling that significantly reduces system size. This integration supports automated recording workflows while minimizing on-site personnel, dramatically decreasing travel requirements and equipment transport needs.

Yang Cai: Remote production reduces the need for travel and physical infrastructure, which in turn cuts down on emissions, energy usage, and logistical complexity. When paired with cloud-based collaboration and optimized streaming, it provides a scalable and environmentally conscious alternative to traditional setups.

Roberto Musso: Remote production is making it easier to reduce the environmental impact. With fewer people on site, there is less travel, less physical equipment and ultimately less energy being used. Case studies show that remote workflows using cloud and IP technologies have already helped teams be more efficient and sustainably conscious.

Colby Winegar: Remote production reduces the carbon footprint by minimizing travel, using tools and products that lower energy usage, and streamlining production workflows that support a sustainable broadcasting carbon-neutral footprint.

Richard Rees: By embracing remote production, broadcasters can align their operations with sustainable practices while continuing to meet the demands of a fast-paced, global media landscape. Remote production greatly reduces travel-related emissions by minimizing the need to transport crew and equipment, and it lowers infrastructure demands by eliminating the need for large, energy-intensive on-site setups, which in turn reduces energy consumption and material waste. Furthermore, remote production is highly scalable and flexible, enabling broadcasters to cover events across the globe while maintaining a smaller environmental footprint, and cloud-based workflows and AI-driven automation improve the efficiency of production processes, reducing redundancy and unnecessary resource use.

Marcus B. Brodersen: The carbon reduction from decreased travel is just the tip of the sustainability iceberg when it comes to remote production benefits. Our virtual production technology eliminates the need for physical set construction and transportation, replacing carbon-intensive materials with pixels that have a fraction of the environmental impact. The data centers powering our real-time rendering capabilities are increasingly shifting to renewable energy sources, making the compute-intensive aspects of virtual production progressively greener as infrastructure providers respond to climate commitments.