Industry Insights: Remote production technologies reshape workflows with IP-based solutions

Remote production technologies are fundamentally reshaping how broadcasters create and deliver content, moving the industry away from traditional on-site, equipment-heavy workflows toward flexible, IP-based operations.

This shift enables production teams to work from centralized locations or even from home, dramatically reducing travel costs while maintaining broadcast quality. The evolution encompasses everything from cloud-based editing platforms to advanced compression standards like JPEG XS, allowing broadcasters to produce more content with fewer resources.

In the first part of our two-part Industry Insights roundtable, broadcast technology leaders discuss how remote production solutions are transforming workflows, enabling high-quality content creation from any location, and addressing critical challenges such as latency, security and integration with existing infrastructure. The discussion highlights how emerging standards and cloud advancements are making remote production not just viable, but increasingly the preferred approach for modern broadcast operations.

Key takeaways from this Industry Insights roundtable

• Cost reduction benefits: Remote production can reduce on-site crew requirements by 50% or more, directly impacting travel, lodging, and equipment costs while enabling more efficient resource allocation.
• Quality maintenance standards: Advanced compression technologies like JPEG XS and ultra-low latency protocols ensure broadcast-quality content delivery with minimal delay, even across long distances.
• Hybrid workflow integration: Modern remote production systems seamlessly integrate with traditional on-site operations through IP-based protocols like SMPTE ST 2110, allowing gradual infrastructure modernization.
• Cloud infrastructure advancement: Edge caching, scalable architecture, and browser-based editing tools have transformed cloud platforms into full production environments, not just storage solutions.
• Real-time collaboration capabilities: Teams can now work in parallel from different locations, with virtual environments enabling concurrent pre-production and production phases that compress traditional timelines.

How are remote production technologies altering traditional broadcast workflows?

Gordon Kapes, president, Studio Technologies: At its most basic, the ability to have key technical and on-air personnel at a central or other remote location reduces travel and associated costs. This includes reduction in air fare, local transportation, lodging, meals, and travel time. An on-site crew reduction of 50% or more will directly impact production costs.

Matthew Williams-Neale, VP, marketing, Appear: Remote production technologies are shifting broadcasters away from resource-heavy, on-site setups to centralized, IP-based workflows. This evolution streamlines operations, reduces travel, and enables broadcasters to produce more content with fewer resources—all while maintaining exceptional quality.

Colin Moran, VP, production products, LTN: Sports leagues and broadcasters are embracing remote production technologies and centralized production models with a lighter on-premise presence for greater flexibility and cost-efficiency. Many content owners are pivoting away from siloed event production, transmission and distribution approaches in favor of more closely integrated remote IP workflows that blend signal acquisition, master control and real-time customization. This enables rights holders to easily scale tailored live event versions for global takers without managing the challenges of multi-vendor chains and stepping in and out of costly public cloud environments.

Roberto Musso, technical director, NDI: Remote production is changing the way teams create live content, making it easier to work without being tied to a specific location or tons of gear. Production crews don’t have to be on-site or in the same studio anymore, as they can now produce, switch and deliver from wherever they are. Tools like cloud platforms and NDI help make that possible by sending high-quality video over IP with minimal delay.

Chris Scheck, head of marketing content, Lawo: The good thing about open-standards-based IP infrastructures is that no new technology is necessary to deploy remote production workflows. IP streams have been able to travel long distance for quite some time. Support for other transport formats, such as NDI, SRT, Dante AV, etc., however, has allowed content producers to, as it were, choose the right tools for large and small production assignments.

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Sam Bogoch, CEO, Axle AI: Remote production has flipped the script on traditional workflows by decentralizing access to media and tools. At Axle AI, we’ve seen broadcasters increasingly move away from studio-only setups toward hybrid workflows powered by browser-based interfaces and hybrid cloud media access. This shift enables faster turnaround times and more flexible staffing models, with editors and producers collaborating globally.

Eric Chang, marketing content architect, Telestream: Remote production is shifting workflows from centralized on-site hardware-heavy, resource intensive models to decentralized, software-driven remote processes. With the latest IP and cloud technologies, broadcasters can produce content from practically any location with real-time collaboration across different locations.

David Isola, global director of product marketing, Black Box: Remote production has allowed broadcasters to shift away from centralized, facility-based operations toward more flexible distributed workflows. As a result, production teams now can access and control systems from virtually any location, thereby reducing on-site requirements, accelerating deployment, and enabling more versatile scheduling of top talent. This evolution also supports hybrid production models that blend on-premise and remote capabilities to achieve greater efficiency.

Dave Van Hoy, president, Advanced Systems Group: Remote production technologies are enabling new methods of creating content. In today’s fast paced media world, the time to get your message to your distribution method, whether broadcast or online, has become critical to success. Remote production technologies bring the content tools directly to the creatives. This removes obstacles such as travel, time, and allows the very best talent to be available instantly.

Greg Macchia, product marketing manager, live production, Riedel Communications: Remote production has changed how broadcasts get done — it’s a smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable approach. Teams can work from one central location, or even from home, instead of constantly traveling, which means less stress for people and much less equipment needed on site. Plus, it makes it easier for specialists to jump in on multiple events in a day, helping broadcasters do more with fewer resources.

Henry Goodman, director of product management, Calrec: Of course, distributed or remote production can drive down cost and is more environmentally sustainable due to the reduction in travel for both equipment and personnel, and it also gives broadcasters the flexibility to meet the specific needs demanded by individual productions. Whether this is providing localized edge audio processing for commentator in-ear feeds or mixing the presentation mix from a centralized studio, remote flexibility is the key to these new workflows.

David Edwards, product manager, Net Insight: For many, remote production is considered a staffing efficiency benefit — the ability for skilled production teams to work on multiple events throughout a working day or a saving in travel costs.
A transition to remote production is often associated with greater use of cloud processing, IP-based connectivity and affordable bandwidth availability. Transporting multiple camera feeds into the production centre at high quality with low latency is critical to practical remote production — enabling creation of dynamic, reactive and immersive content for the viewer. 

Richard Rees, CEO, QuickLink: Remote production is not just a technical evolution — it’s a strategic transformation redefining the very fabric of broadcast workflows. By decoupling production from geography and infrastructure, these technologies are empowering broadcasters to operate with unprecedented agility, scalability and resilience. This shift is not merely about efficiency — it’s about future-proofing. Remote-first workflows reduce overhead, shrink carbon footprints and increase content velocity.

Marcus B. Brodersen, CEO, Pixotope: Remote production enables creative teams to work in parallel — art directors can develop virtual environments while directors block camera movements and technical directors test configurations, often from different locations. This shift is blurring the lines between pre-production and production phases: virtual scouting, pre-visualization, and technical setup now occur concurrently which dramatically compresses timelines. Teams can iterate on creative decisions in real-time virtual environments before committing to final approaches, reducing risk and enhancing creative outcomes.

How do remote production solutions enable broadcasters to create high-quality content from any location?

Matthew Williams-Neale, VP, marketing, Appear: Solutions like Appear’s X Platform offer ultra-low latency, multi-camera synchronization, and codec versatility, allowing broadcasters to deliver high-quality content in real-time—whether from a stadium, studio, or remote venue. This enables full-scale productions even for smaller events previously limited by technical or budget constraints.

Daniel Lundstedt, head of sales and marketing, Intinor: Producing high-quality content remotely depends on having technology that can adapt to the network conditions at hand. That’s something we’ve prioritized at Intinor with the Direkt series — it’s designed to perform reliably even when connections aren’t ideal. For broadcasters, that kind of stability means they can work confidently from almost any location without compromising on quality.

Chris Scheck, head of marketing content, Lawo: Coverage of top-tier sporting and entertainment events obviously relies on high-quality cameras and microphones. Operators furthermore need enough IP bandwidth, which is often rented from telecoms providers, redundant connections between the venues and the production hub, and — perhaps most importantly — a robust broadcast control system such as VSM that allows operators to switch between venues with a single button press. Finally, to mitigate latency issues, the hardware or software solutions used on-site need to be able to provide latency-free monitoring for commentators, camera crews, etc., while streaming the video and audio they receive to the production hub.

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Sam Bogoch, CEO, Axle AI: Modern tools provide direct access to both proxy and high-res media, along with browser-based editing and metadata enrichment — something Axle AI’s MAM is purpose-built to support. This ensures quality isn’t sacrificed while enabling creative teams to work from virtually anywhere. Broadcasters can now produce professional-grade content remotely, even on tight delivery schedules.

Gill Payne, marketing manager, Media Links: At the 2024 Paris Olympics, this approach played a huge role in delivering live coverage for a large broadcaster. Video feeds from the various remote Olympic venues across France were first interconnected to the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) in Paris, where they were then aggregated and optically transported by Media Links 100 Gbps hitlessly protected, fault tolerant IP transport equipment. This transport happened across the ocean to the production facilities of the broadcast rights holder thousands of miles away.

Dave Van Hoy, president, Advanced Systems Group: A primary thing remote production solutions achieve is bringing the tools required to the creatives as opposed to the creatives having to go to the tools. An example of this would be being able to log into your editor from anywhere as opposed to having to return to an edit bay. Today we can extend that to live content production tools such as video switchers, graphics, audio mixers – all of which can be available to the creative wherever they are.

Greg Macchia, product marketing manager, live production, Riedel Communications: Remote production solutions enable broadcasters to deliver high-quality content from almost anywhere by providing seamless access to live feeds, real-time communication, and full control of production tools through centralized systems — all without being on-site. This setup ensures consistent production standards, no matter where the event is happening, while also making it easier to deploy the right talent and resources efficiently. It’s all about staying flexible while maintaining that professional, polished look audiences expect.

John Mailhot, SVP, product management at Imagine Communications: Picture quality is critical in any production, and every time a signal is touched, there’s a risk of degrading it. That’s why it’s essential to use high-quality compression in the first stage of remote production — ensuring that subsequent edits and operations begin with a near-pristine source. At Imagine, we strongly recommend JPEG XS, which delivers an ideal balance of exceptional image quality and ultra-low latency.

David Edwards, product manager, Net Insight: Connectivity is key. Remote production requires reliable networking and bi-directional connectivity. The spread of high bandwidth, ultra-reliable fibre access at key locations is a mass enabler. With mass connectivity comes challenges. Routing, interfacing and operationally secure connectivity starts to become a pressing consideration. Best practice networking may need to be reviewed.

Ben Hayes, director, client services, BitFire: Remote production solutions successfully enable contribution of high-quality content from virtually any location by providing a robust array of production tools along with a secure, managed global IP backbone optimized for broadcast-quality video delivery with high reliability and minimal delay. Cloud-based production switching, graphics, and replay can be controlled from anywhere through a browser or via built-in hardware panels, with total professional control. Augmented by remote talent kits, remote production solutions can seamlessly incorporate the video and audio of commentators, analysts, or guests from any location while maintaining high-quality outputs at every instance.

Richard Rees, CEO, QuickLink: Decentralized production hubs are replacing the need for large, centralized studios, providing the ability to collaborate in real time across continents, unlocking global talent pools and accelerating creative cycles. The virtualization of OB (outside broadcast) operations is further disrupting legacy models, and remote-controlled cameras and cloud-based switching are rendering traditional OB trucks increasingly obsolete, dramatically reducing both cost and complexity. Most critically, remote production enables faster turnaround times than ever before, as content can be captured, edited, and delivered within minutes, meeting the real-time expectations of digital-first audiences.

Marcus B. Brodersen, CEO, Pixotope: Remote production solutions create virtual hubs where technical expertise and infrastructure are centralized, while creative talent contributes from anywhere with reliable internet connectivity. Real-time rendering capabilities and cloud-based tools now allow teams to collaborate across continents while maintaining broadcast-quality standards throughout the production pipeline. This distributed model allows productions to tap into the best creative minds, regardless of geography, while minimizing the logistical challenges of transporting equipment and personnel to remote locations.

How have advancements in cloud infrastructure and connectivity expanded remote production capabilities?

Adi Rozenberg, director, RIST Forum and CTO and co-founder, Alvalinks: Advancements in cloud infrastructure and connectivity have transformed remote production into a scalable, cost-efficient solution. Fast, stable networks now allow content to be delivered to the cloud, processed in real time and then distributed seamlessly. Remote operators can manage everything from a home office, provided the network is reliable.

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João Tocha, owner and founder, Digital Azul: At Digital Azul, we’ve streamed live events from challenging locations, like remote industrial zones in Poland and high-performance arenas in Saudi Arabia, using bonded 4G/5G networks, Starlink satellite services, SRT protocols, and cloud-based routing. By relying more on cloud-based workflows, our teams can respond quickly and flexibly to any changes or unexpected situations. They’ve given us freedom without compromising control.

Chris Scheck, head of marketing content, Lawo: First of all, there are two kinds of clouds: a private cloud and a public cloud. The former refers to server clusters that are not accessible to outsiders. The majority of broadcasters still prefer to remain in control of their processing stack and therefore favor a private cloud. Thanks to HOME, a private network built around it increasingly complies with the EBU’s R143 security recommendation, and data transfers between locations are surprisingly fast. A platform built on apps that run on COTS servers is perhaps even more flexible than a deployment in the public cloud.

Colby Winegar, CEO, Storj: High performance and globally located storage and compute have allowed broadcasters to consolidate their media assets into a centrally located repository. This provides news organizations with immediate access to content, wherever they are located, to tell their story. Emerging digital-first, story-centric workflows allow for content to be distributed to any platform at any time.

Sam Bogoch, CEO, Axle AI: With edge caching and scalable architecture, the cloud has evolved into a full production environment, not just storage. Our Axledit cloud-based editing software even allows collaborative editing from users’ browsers, so they can turn around quick edits for social media without having to upload and download heavy media files. Instead, the whole editorial workflow — finding the media, putting it in a timeline, and rendering and publishing that timeline to social platforms and even broadcast — can be done within the browser.

Dave Van Hoy, president, Advanced Systems Group: Cloud infrastructure has continued to rapidly evolve. This is where we can take advantage of engineering work that’s being done to support many different kinds of applications that would not be cost effective if they were only for our media applications. This includes the speed of compute, the addition of dedicated processing resources such as GPUs and DPUs, as well as many different kinds of storage platforms — all being available in public cloud.

Greg Macchia, product marketing manager, live production, Riedel Communications: The ability to use the cloud for expansion of remote productions brings us to another level of flexibility and scalability. Riedel is actively involved in these types of advancements with end users for deployment of replay server instances in the cloud to dramatically scale production value such as adding some super motion camera replays. It builds on this trend of production efficiency with the option of cloud infrastructure (private or public), with a small on-site footprint and short turnaround to deploy. 

Dave Lanton, senior broadcast architect, Vizrt: Advances in cloud infrastructure and connectivity mean that now, more and more locations have large bandwidth pipes available. Often you can even get “direct connect” bandwidth to the cloud data center. Additionally, higher quality and lower latency transmission can be achieved with high bit-rate encoders using JPEG XS, which means remote teams can keep the high quality of their productions with consistency and ease. 

Henry Goodman, director of product management, Calrec: The ability to process and mix in a cloud environment adds a valuable tool to the remote distributed production toolbox. The ability to spin-up additional cost-efficient cloud processing resources for one-off productions is delivering more flexibility and its ability to develop ad hoc solutions that meet broadcasters’ exact needs is delivering the potential to drive more content. It is also driving down cost — the traditional model of buying enough processing for your biggest event of the year is redundant when a virtualized DSP engine can deliver the audio quality and feature set in a cloud-native environment.

David Edwards, product manager, Net Insight: The desire to implement remote production now extends beyond tier-1 stadiums. Tier 2 and 3 content has seen a big increase in consumption in recent years. New viewing platforms available on devices from large screen TVs through to mobile devices have enabled this market to grow and provide a route for public consumption of diverse events.

Richard Rees, CEO, QuickLink: Recent technological advancements in cloud infrastructure and remote production have significantly expanded what’s possible, offering unprecedented levels of efficiency, flexibility and scalability in content creation. This includes High-speed 5G and fiber connectivity, cloud-based production suites, AI-powered automation and virtualized control rooms. Together, these technologies have made remote production not just a viable alternative, but the new gold standard for broadcast operations — offering unmatched efficiency, adaptability and creative agility.

How do remote production platforms ensure consistent quality across geographically dispersed locations?

Jon Finegold, CMO, Signiant: Remote production platforms maintain quality through standardized workflows, real-time monitoring, and access to centralized asset storage. Advanced file acceleration and cloud-based editing tools ensure high-resolution content is preserved across locations. AI-driven tools can also assist in maintaining consistency, automating workflows, and overall production standards.

Robert Nicholas, CEO, SipRadius: One of the issues raised by those who came from traditional broadcast backgrounds is the issue of timing and the need to lock everything to a master clock. It can be seen as a bit of a leap of faith, but we have an edge device which acts, among other things, as a local grand master clock for IP connectivity. It houses a source of good enough — millisecond accuracy — local time, like a cellular or a GPS receiver, creating perfect timing across the most diverse production with no hassle.

Colin Moran, VP, production products, LTN: Unlike rigid satellite workflows, flexible IP connectivity empowers broadcasters to deliver high-quality feeds from even the most challenging venues, like remote beaches. An all-IP approach also helps organizations stay nimble and agile. If events are affected by adverse weather conditions, teams need to know they can scale up or down as required and only pay for the production and transport resources they require.

Roberto Musso, technical director, NDI: With protocols like NDI 6, teams can send high-quality video over IP without needing all the traditional broadcast gear. Cloud tools help keep things consistent by handling encoding and decoding in a standardized way. And if something goes wrong, like a dip in quality or a sync issue, monitoring tools can catch and fix it as it happens.

Colby Winegar, CEO, Storj: The best production platforms provide web-based editing tools, backed up by highly available, highly reliable, and highly redundant storage and compute, accompanied by asset management. Platforms must include backups and the ability to redirect content seamlessly in case internet connectivity becomes unavailable. Disaster recovery is also an important element, allowing a near-real-time switch over to a secondary system.

David Isola, global director of product marketing, Black Box: Remote production platforms ensure consistent quality by maintaining low-latency, high-resolution IP transmission, supported by intelligent bandwidth management. As part of remote production implementations, advanced KVM and remote desktop technologies help replicate on-site responsiveness and visual fidelity. The result is a consistent user experience, whether operators are working in a control room or from a remote location.

Dave Lanton, senior broadcast architect, Vizrt: A cloud workflow means your operators can be anywhere in the world, but latency is key to a positive operator experience. We recommend that you have your cloud deployment based in the region of where the operators are located, not necessarily where the live production is located, as it provides a better connection and better operator experience for the production overall.

Ben Hayes, director, client services, BitFire: Ultra-low latency across the global transport backbone allows for real-time collaboration between decentralized and centralized production crews. While customized error correction and intelligent routing help to guarantee broadcast-quality video integrity over extended distances, frame-accurate synchronization — regardless of location — supports seamless multi-camera productions. Dynamic network rerouting and redundancy guarantee uniformity in the viewing experience, even in the presence of unfavorable network conditions, and continuous proactive quality monitoring helps to resolve issues before they affect the broadcast.

How are latency challenges addressed in remote production workflows?

Gordon Kapes, president, Studio Technologies: The answer is simple: “use fiber interconnects.” The latency caused by fiber transport methods is much less than legacy satellite transport.

Matthew Williams-Neale, VP, marketing, Appear: Latency is minimized through ultra-low latency codecs like JPEG XS and HEVC ULL, and intelligent buffering and synchronization techniques. Appear’s X Platform, for example, delivers as low as 100ms end-to-end latency—crucial for applications like VAR and live interviews.

Jon Finegold, CMO, Signiant: As distances grow and file sizes increase, the challenges associated with latency grow exponentially. To overcome this, taking advantage of optimized data transfer protocols can help eliminate latency to enable editing teams to access assets quickly to start the creative process.

Colin Moran, VP, production products, LTN: Reducing latency is critical to delivering seamless and consistent live coverage across multiple platforms — especially in sports betting, where minimizing delay is business-critical. Advances in JPEG XS encoding and high-bandwidth IP transport are helping broadcasters reliably transmit video from the venue to production master control rooms with minimal latency. Purpose-built IP networks minimize latency across the entire video chain by acquiring content once and enabling a full suite of customization — including graphics, remote commentary, metadata insertion, and custom SCTE markers — within a single encode/decode cycle, eliminating delays caused by fragmented, multi-vendor workflows.

Daniel Lundstedt, head of sales and marketing, Intinor: Latency is always a factor, but what’s often more important is keeping all streams in sync, especially for live, multi-camera setups. With the right tools and configuration, it’s possible to manage latency while ensuring everything lines up properly on the receiving end. Even small delays can affect the viewer’s experience, so it is so it’s crucial to design systems with synchronization in mind, as much as speed.

Colby Winegar, CEO, Storj: The best cloud infrastructure tools allow for globally distributed cloud offerings, including storage that allows for high-performance throughput and low latency. Newer tools allow for intelligent and predictive caching at the client level to provide a seamless experience.

Gill Payne, marketing manager, Media Links: JPEG XS minimizes transmission bandwidth along with costs and contributes just a few milliseconds to latency in video processing without any perceptible compromises in video quality. Numerous camera and audio feeds can be economically transported to the centralized production facility with very low latency over long distances. Media Links’ Xscend platform transports up to 128 high quality media and data services utilizing JPEG XS over optical IP networks.

Deon LeCointe, director, networked solutions, Sony Electronics: Latency in remote production can be addressed by leveraging low latency encoding technologies like JPEG XS or HEVC which can encode and decode content in as little as 1 frame. Alternatively, the use of low-latency IP transmission protocols like SRT or RIST can ensure stable, real-time video and audio transport over the public internet or dedicated networks. Broadcasters also synchronize remote feeds using precision timing tools (e.g., PTP or GPS clocking) and employ edge processing to reduce encoding and decoding delays.

John Mailhot, SVP, product management at Imagine Communications: Latency is a concern even when everyone is working in the same truck, but when production teams are remote, it increases due to the compression and transport used to send signals to them. That closed feedback loop — from the camera, through the link to the production center, and instructions back to the on-site crew making real-time adjustments — requires the extremely low latency that only JPEG XS can provide.

How do remote production systems integrate seamlessly with traditional on-site operations?

Robert Nicholas, CEO, SipRadius: Don’t let the technology dictate your operation. If you have SDI cameras, or even want to use a truck on-site for local switching, that is fine. Just choose an edge device router that accepts the signals you want to create, and converts them to secure, low-latency, high quality IP streams.

Chris Scheck, head of marketing content, Lawo: The most reliable and flexible approach is to base the entire technology stack on IP. For practical reasons — and to have a common denominator — Lawo recommends using the SMPTE ST2110 protocol, while NDI, SRT and Dante AV are also supported, in addition to JPEG XS, H264/H265 and more. A wide-area (WAN) IP network acts as the backbone for all tools anywhere in the world that need to communicate with one another. IP-compatible video and audio gateways enable operators to connect their SDI devices to the IP network to convert digital audio and video signals to IP streams, and back, for a seamless user experience.

Eric Chang, marketing content architect, Telestream: Broadcasters can have remote production systems integrate seamlessly with traditional on-site operations through hybrid workflows that support both IP and SDI. By using tools like PRISM waveform monitors and the SPG9000 sync generator, signal integrity and timing are ensured, especially for bandwidth-intensive UHD content. Compatibility with advanced compression formats like JPEG XS is essential for seamless transport and high-quality results.

David Isola, global director of product marketing, Black Box: Modern remote production systems are designed to support hybrid deployment, integrating with existing hardware and facilitating familiar workflows without disruption. With networked KVM systems enabling remote and on-site access to essential tools and content in real time, broadcasters are positioned to update and modernize operations without overhauling their entire infrastructure.

Greg Macchia, product marketing manager, live production, Riedel Communications: Remote production systems integrate seamlessly with traditional on-site operations by using flexible, network-based technologies that connect remote teams with on-site equipment and crew members. This setup lets teams communicate in real time and control equipment from afar, while still using the familiar tools and workflows on-site crews are used to. It’s a hybrid approach that keeps everything running efficiently, whether you’re working remotely or on location.

John Mailhot, SVP, product management at Imagine Communications: At Imagine Communications, our core focus is routing control and signal management, and we consider the codecs bridging remote and local production as integral components of a larger routing system. Managing signals as part of the overall system is an integration that takes place in the routing control. For producers and directors, this makes accessing a signal seamless and effortless; in the best systems they can’t even tell whether it’s coming from a remote location or on-site.

Dave Lanton, senior broadcast architect, Vizrt: REMI (or “at home”) live production has already been in use for years. Moving to cloud just means you are pointing your transmission paths to a different destination. Workflow for the crew remains primarily unchanged, so it’s an easier adoption and shorter learning curve for the team.

Richard Rees, CEO, QuickLink: With the evolution of remote production technologies, production engineers and directors can now work as remote operators, managing cameras, mixing audio and directing live feeds from centralized control rooms — or even from home-based setups, while editors are becoming increasingly cloud-savvy, collaborating on post-production in real time using cloud-based editing platforms. With fewer personnel required on-site, production crews are expected to be more versatile, now requiring proficiency across multiple disciplines, including video switching, IP transmission and cloud storage management. Additionally, AI-assisted workflows are streamlining many routine tasks such as captioning, asset organization and content tagging, reducing the need for manual labor and shifting focus toward strategic oversight.

How do security protocols protect content integrity in remote production environments?

Jon Finegold, CMO, Signiant: Security protocols protect content integrity by utilizing end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication and secure access controls, and real-time monitoring. Regular security audits and compliance with industry standards, such as TPN, further safeguard sensitive media assets. Chain-of-custody tracking provides visibility into file access, enhancing protection against leaks or breaches.

David Isola, global director of product marketing, Black Box: In remote production environments, security protocols are essential to protecting content integrity. IP KVM platforms should employ end-to-end encryption; integrate with Active Directory and LDAPs for secure, role-based access control; and take advantage of redundant network paths via SFP(+) ports to offer failsafe operation and protect against both internal and external threats. The IP KVM management system can enhance security through event logging and automated email alerts tied to monitoring and compliance.

Sergio Ammirata, Ph.D., director, RIST Forum and chief scientist, SipRadius: This is the difference between efficient, high quality productions and financial, reputational and possibly even legal disasters. You have to audit the entire chain for security, and that means looking at every single device and switch that the stream will pass through. You must ask the hard questions of your hardware, software and network suppliers, and you must impose the strictest sign-on and password processes.

How are emerging standards and protocols enhancing the scalability of remote production?

Gordon Kapes, president, Studio Technologies: The rapid increase in the use of standards such as SMPTE ST 2110 allows all aspects of a production to be performed in separate locations. Whether it’s video, audio, system timing, camera control/PTZ, or special functions — ST 2110 has been designed to support it. The type of events that can be supported remotely continues to expand with the ever-advancing offerings of hardware and software.

Colin Moran, VP, production products, LTN: Scalability starts with flexible signal acquisition across stadiums and event venues. Broadcasters need to know they can flexibly harness a growing mix of protocols like SRT, JPEG XS, and other IP solutions to fit evolving production requirements. Open and interoperable IP-based workflows — from acquisition to real-time customization and last-mile delivery — are helping leagues and rights holders scale cost-effectively and reach new digital platforms within a single workflow.

Simone D’Antone, global strategy leader, broadcast, AWS: Interoperability is key to the continued advancement of remote production. Today, there are many different codecs with various benefits, such as AWS CDI for moving uncompressed footage in the cloud or compressed codecs like NDI 6 or JPEG XS to achieve similar visual quality aspects, without compromising the viewing experience. One of the advantages of the emergence of IP workflows is that we’re seeing new ways to transport media, and the only bottleneck is bandwidth.

Gill Payne, marketing manager, Media Links: Industry experts like Media Links’ John Dale, through his work with the Video Services Forum (VSF), are playing a key role in shaping these advancements. VSF technical recommendations like TR-07 and TR-08 along with SMPTE standards like SMPTE ST 2110 provide technical interface specifications to move high-quality media (video, audio, and data) over IP networks effortlessly along with repeatability and resulting lower costs. These mean broadcasters can quickly scale up remote productions, add more feeds, integrate cloud and other workflows as well as interoperate with multiple vendors.

John Mailhot, SVP, product management at Imagine Communications: In recent years, the use of JPEG XS for remote production has been thoroughly validated — both by industry standards bodies and real-world deployments. The Video Services Forum’s TR-07 and TR-08 recommendations are widely adopted, supporting highly scalable workflows. Really, there’s no theoretical limit to the number or type of JPEG XS signals that can move across the network into or out of a facility.

Sergio Ammirata, Ph.D., director, RIST Forum and chief scientist, SipRadius: The best open standards, like RIST, provide valuable operational flexibility and scalability, without compromising security. Using RIST you can quickly build a virtual network for an individual production, routing content where you need to with guaranteed quality and low latency. Importantly, RIST routing does not require decode and re-encode, so quality and security are maintained. 

David Edwards, product manager, Net Insight: Whatever the media transport format, whatever the base IP network infrastructure, with so many media flows, employing many different types of protocols and differing data rates flowing between multiple organizations, safe network operations become imperative. And so, above all else a robust and flexible RP 2129 compliant Trust Boundary to manage media flows is now a must.

How do broadcasters leverage real-time troubleshooting in remote production setups?

Gordon Kapes, president, Studio Technologies: I think this is currently an Achilles heel in remote production. The minimization of senior technical personnel on site creates challenges that have yet to be fully resolved. The solutions will most likely be software-based, allowing full analysis and control of all aspects of field production. While advancing, there is much to still achieve.

Adi Rozenberg, director, RIST Forum and CTO and co-founder, Alvalinks: Broadcasters now use intelligent network observability platforms such as Alvalinks’ Cloudrider precise observability solution to provide deep, end-to-end visibility of service disruption causes and prevent further issues. With AI such tools can offer advanced network observability and unmatched precision for RIST, RTP, SRT and SMPTE 2022-7 users. By being able to predict disruption causes, editors and project managers can effectively troubleshoot in real-time, removing the hassle of complex hardware workflows that don’t allow for such a flexible approach.

Erling Hedkvist, business development manager, Arkona and Manifold: We used to fly technicians all over the place for both installations and as “guarantee” engineers for high profile events. Nowadays, without fail, everything is managed remotely from the comfort of the engineer’s office with remote desktop tools such as TeamViewer. Actual hardware problems are incredibly rare. Most all the time it’s configuration related.

Colin Moran, VP, production products, LTN: Real-time visibility and proactive monitoring is critical in remote production — and it’s what separates fully managed platforms from less supported, protocol-only IP solutions. Broadcasters need partners with a dedicated technical operations center (TOC) that offers 24/7 support. Centralized workflows with end-to-end monitoring give teams complete visibility and control across the video chain — resolving issues before they happen and removing the guesswork. Don’t leave signal integrity to chance.

Ben Hayes, director, client services, BitFire: Remote on-demand engineering support enables broadcasters to correct issues quickly without resorting to in-person dispatch of additional personnel. With 24/7 NOC support, broadcasters can be confident that all feeds, devices, and cloud production assets are being monitored proactively, with instant human intervention in the event of issues. Integrated telemetry tools enhance monitoring by offering real-time network health, latency, bitrate, packet loss, and sync status of every live stream in real time.