IBC 2026 Preview: The big picture, from proving flexibility to proving its worth

A framing conversation runs underneath every other topic at IBC 2026, running Sept. 11-14 in Amsterdam: how production, distribution, audience engagement and monetization continue to converge across the media industry, and what that convergence is actually worth to the organizations paying for it.

From “can we do it” to “what did it cost”

“The last decade of this industry went into proving that production and distribution could move anywhere: cloud, hybrid, remote, edge. That question is settled, and the one replacing it at IBC this year is far less comfortable: what did all that flexibility actually cost, and what did it return? Expect the more interesting conversations on the show floor to be about unit economics rather than capability, because most media organisations still cannot tell you what a single channel, a single stream or a single AI process costs them to run,” said Kristan Bullett, chief executive of Humans Not Robots.

David Kaszycki, chief executive and co-founder of Beam Dynamics, said that same scrutiny is being applied to equipment and infrastructure organizations already own.

“I see a lot of organizations are asking harder questions about the operational value of technology, rather than focusing solely on its capabilities. Duplicate investment, underused equipment and weak lifecycle planning are becoming harder to justify as systems grow more software-driven and interconnected. That puts greater focus on getting more from the technology already in place and understanding the wider impact of every new investment,” Kaszycki said.

Stephan Nicolas, chief commercial officer at Viaccess-Orca, said that shift is also changing how buyers evaluate what they are being sold in the first place.

“One of the largest changes we’re seeing around IBC is how buyers define value. They used to evaluate feature by feature, but with multi-year infrastructure commitments in play, they’re looking harder at whether service delivery, monetization, and content protection actually function as one system, not capabilities bolted together after the fact. The real differentiator is no longer the length of the feature list, but how well those capabilities work together over time to reduce complexity and support sustainable growth,” Nicolas said.

Production, distribution and monetization stop being separate stages

“This year’s big story is convergence: Production, distribution and monetisation are no longer separate disciplines; they’re becoming layers of the same software stack. Budget pressure is forcing buyers to judge every investment on total cost of ownership rather than headline price, which is accelerating the shift away from proprietary infrastructure towards open, modular architectures. AI will get the headlines, but the more durable shift is broadcasters treating flexibility and interoperability as core operational requirements rather than aspirations,” said David Edwards, product manager at Techex.

Nina Walsh, global leader of business development for media, entertainment, games and sports at AWS, described that convergence in more literal terms.

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“Production, distribution, and monetization are no longer sequential, they’re concurrent. A single piece of content is being enriched, formatted, and distributed to multiple platforms simultaneously as it’s being created,” Walsh said. She said two things are driving that shift: open data architectures such as Amazon S3 that make content accessible across its full lifecycle without proprietary lock-in, and agentic AI built on Amazon Bedrock that can orchestrate complex, multi-step workflows on its own.

Jon Cohen, chief revenue officer at Frequency, framed the same convergence around the economics of streaming specifically.

“One of the defining themes at IBC2026 will be how broadcasters and streaming providers improve the economics of streaming. AI is a key part of that shift, but its value comes from how it improves every stage of the workflow, from content preparation and scheduling to distribution, audience engagement and monetization. Rather than sitting in isolated tools, AI is becoming embedded throughout content ingestion, rights management, scheduling, graphics, playout, distribution, analytics and monetization, acting as the connective tissue that lets operational data drive faster decisions, automate repetitive work and continuously optimize channel performance. For media companies, the priority should be practical AI that reduces manual work, improves adaptability and helps teams manage more channels, platforms and revenue opportunities without adding complexity,” Cohen said.

Jean-Christophe Perier, chief marketing officer at Globecast, said the underlying goal driving that convergence is a media environment that can withstand whatever comes next.

“The big picture at IBC 2026 should focus on building a future-proof media environment — one that connects client needs with innovative technology, operational flexibility, and sustainable growth. This year’s trends are expected to highlight the importance of breaking down silos between production, distribution, and audience engagement — creating a seamless, integrated ecosystem. We see a clear demand for flexible, open architectures that prevent vendor lock-in, enabling media organizations to adapt swiftly to market changes and leverage best-in-class solutions without being constrained by rigid workflows,” Perier said.

AI moves from what’s possible to what’s practical

Steve Reynolds, chief executive of Imagine Communications, said the AI conversation at IBC is shifting away from demonstrations of capability and toward operational payoff.

“At IBC2026, the AI conversation will shift from what’s possible to what’s practical, as media organizations look beyond experimentation to applications that deliver measurable operational and business value. That value isn’t in replacing people, but in automating routine tasks and using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to securely connect to trusted systems of record — making those systems smarter, faster, and easier to run so teams can focus on work that requires human expertise,” Reynolds said.

Marc Aldrich, chief executive of Zixi, said that practicality is showing up clearly in how live sports rights are being monetized.

“The value of live sports rights is driving broadcasters toward more diverse content and new monetization pathways from the same live event. AI-powered cameras paired with ultra-low latency transport can now track players and generate additional angles and highlights for broadcasters to package and monetize, while mobile applications extend that production model further, supporting remote production, second-screen engagement, and fan participation without adding infrastructure at the venue. Time-Addressable Media (TAMS) workflows take this further still, making content modular enough for regional edits, on-demand highlights, and targeted advertising, all drawn from a single underlying stream. Making this manageable at scale requires orchestration across the entire chain, from transport to monetization, so that when something does go wrong live, root cause can be identified in seconds rather than hours, with minimal staff, because in live sports there is no second take,” Aldrich said.

Building space and systems that can flex

Kieran Phillips, director of sales and marketing at CJP Broadcast, said the questions buyers are asking have moved beyond any single piece of technology to how an entire production space functions day to day.

“The most significant change is that people are asking less about one piece of technology and more about how the whole production space will work day to day. One studio may now need to handle virtual production, live streaming, conventional broadcast and internal content using the same space and infrastructure. The challenge is building that flexibility in from the start, rather than adding separate systems every time a new requirement appears,” Phillips said.

Francesco Scartozzi, vice president of sales and business development at Matrox Video, said that flexibility is increasingly being built around open, modular standards rather than proprietary systems.

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“One of the biggest challenges facing broadcasters today is balancing the demand for greater agility and scalability with the realities of cost pressures, operational complexity, and evolving infrastructure models. At IBC 2026, we’ll see growing attention on the technologies and initiatives that enable more software-defined, open, and flexible media infrastructures. Initiatives like the EBU’s Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) and Media Exchange Layer (MXL) reflect this shift by enabling more modular and interoperable approaches to media infrastructure, giving broadcasters greater flexibility to adapt as production and business requirements evolve,” Scartozzi said.

Russell Johnson, director at Hitomi Broadcast, said that same growth in flexibility has made it harder to confirm a production is actually behaving the way it should.

“What stands out to me this year is that production is becoming easier to scale, but harder to verify. Teams are handling more formats, more processing stages and more delivery paths, and a signal can look broadly right while still carrying a timing or colour error further down the chain. The important shift is towards checking what is actually happening through the workflow, rather than relying on the final picture alone,” Johnson said.