The overlooked opportunity: Why the C-suite should rethink post-production

As the broadcast industry looks toward 2026, the conversations at every major tech event seem to orbit the same gravitational pull: rights management, advertising, and distribution. These are, after all, the areas closest to the money — where broadcasters generate revenue and justify their investments. Meanwhile, post-production workflows are often relegated to the “cost of doing business” category — a necessary but unglamorous pain point.

But what if this mindset is costing broadcasters more than they realize? What if the key to unlocking significant savings and true competitive advantage lies not only in the next big distribution deal, but also in optimizing everyday operations — combining revenue-driving initiatives with operational efficiencies and cost savings for a more resilient, high-performing business?

The blind spot: Is post-production an operational burden or a strategic asset?

For too long, post-production has been treated as an operational burden. It’s seen as a complex and chaotic cost center that simply needs to be managed, not optimized. This perspective is a critical blind spot for C-suite leaders. While the focus remains fixed on revenue-generating endpoints, inefficiencies in creative workflows quietly (but often loudly) drain resources, inflate costs, and hamper the creativity that drives viewership.

The reality is that most post-production environments have evolved by adding technology to address immediate problems. This approach often results in point solutions for point problems: storage full? Buy more. Can’t find assets? Add a MAM. Need remote access? Implement VDI or a cloud service. Over time, this creates scattered assets, layered processes, and a patchwork of tools that each make sense on their own but ultimately hurt productivity when viewed as a whole.

In that resulting patchwork it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks and processes to break. Every hour an editor wastes searching for a file, every “media offline” error that brings a project to a halt, and every gigabyte of storage consumed by duplicate files is a direct hit to the bottom line. These are not just minor irritations; they are systemic inefficiencies that accumulate into significant financial waste.

The AI paradox in creative operations

The industry is buzzing with the potential of AI, and rightly so. CTOs and CEOs are championing AI for content personalization, ad targeting, and distribution optimization. Yet, there’s a striking paradox: the same leaders who advocate for AI’s transformative power often ignore its potential to revolutionize their own internal operations.

AI can play a pivotal role beyond the front end. When applied to post-production, it can automate tedious tasks, streamline approvals, and provide powerful search capabilities that make archives instantly accessible. But the prerequisite to getting any value from AI is to have a coherent data set. And if creative assets are spread across a patchwork of volumes, storage, and servers, and there’s no coherent project structure, you will not be able to derive any real value from AI. But the inverse is also true: with a structured framework for all of your creative projects and the assets they require, you now have a foundation upon which automation and AI can deliver real value.

The business case for modernizing post-production

Greater profitability depends not only on what happens on air; it’s also about what happens behind the scenes. By implementing a modern, structured framework for post-production, organizations can achieve remarkable results.

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Here are some interesting results shared by Projective customers:

• Creative teams can save up to 20 hours per user each week by eliminating media offline errors and streamlining asset searches.
• Implementing intelligent deduplication and archiving strategies can free up to 80% of primary storage.

These aren’t just abstract numbers. They represent tangible savings in time and money, freeing up your most valuable assets — your creative teams — to focus on producing high-quality content that engages audiences and drives revenue.

As leaders, we must challenge the conventional wisdom that dismisses post-production as a mere cost center. It’s time to recognize the overlooked opportunity hiding in plain sight. By modernizing these internal workflows, we can unlock efficiencies that directly contribute to the financial health and competitive strength of our organizations. The real question isn’t whether you can afford to rethink post-production, but whether you can afford not to.

Derek Barrilleaux, ProjectiveDerek Barrilleaux, CEO of Projective, is dedicated to improving creative processes in media and entertainment. With over 20 years of experience in rich media and storage technology, he focuses on streamlining post-production workflows to save time, reduce costs, and enhance team collaboration. Since joining Projective in 2017, Derek has helped grow the company into a trusted tech partner for production teams at companies like Disney, Comcast, and Arsenal FC. Passionate about using technology to solve problems, Derek is committed to helping creative teams work more efficiently and effectively.