Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications, offers a view on the trends he believes will significantly impact the way the media and entertainment industry creates, delivers, and monetises content over the next 12 months and beyond
By Contributor
Published: January 13, 2025 Updated: January 14, 2025
Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications, offers a view on the trends he believes will significantly impact the way the media and entertainment industry creates, delivers, and monetises content over the next 12 months and beyond
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications, offers a view on the trends he believes will significantly impact the way the media and entertainment industry creates, delivers, and monetises content over the next 12 months and beyond
https://www.tvbeurope.com/business/2025-me-trends-whats-old-is-sometimes-new-again title=Share via Email class=share-email>
As the media and entertainment (M&E) industry continues to sound the death knell for traditional TV, I'll make a bold prediction for 2025: Linear will experience a resurgence - of sorts.
I'm not suggesting that the pendulum swing toward streaming viewership will suddenly reverse course, but over the past year, a surprising trend surfaced as media companies - even digital natives - rediscovered linear as a way to drive ROI and TCO.
One high-profile U.S. example was Amazon's live streaming of NFL Thursday Night Football, which they paired with linear ad sales. While Amazon certainly has the capability to sell the streaming inventory as DAI or addressable impressions, they opted to sell the entire audience. Why? Simple economics. Amazon gets a higher ad price for the massive TNF audience than is possible by selling this inventory on an impression basis. This strategy demonstrates the enduring value of linear TV in reaching broad audiences and driving monetisation.
Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications With emerging ad tech innovations, it's possible for big brands to purchase ads that guarantee category exclusivity during a commercial break in the digital environment - something that was previously limited to linear TV. Enabling digital to be sold like linear, with broadcast-quality rules and brand protection, strengthens media companies' ability to sell inventory in a direct but automated way, which is the key to maximising streaming revenue. The future of advertising lies in integrating the best of each platform, optimising the user experience while maximising returns for advertisers.
In 2025, the market's focus on the revenue-driving advantages of linear will continue to develop, especially when the goal is to reach large audiences simultaneously. Integrating digital streaming with linear ads is a win-win for broadcasters who can tap into a hybrid model that enables them to engage diverse viewers while leveraging well-established revenue streams. Successful media companies have realised that linear vs. digital is the wrong answer. Linear + digital is the path to profitability.
Is the smart money still on-prem? For over a decade, cloud solutions have been heralded as the future of broadcasting. On the surface, the choice between on-prem and cloud seems a simple one: on-prem systems require significant investments in physical infrastructure and time, while cloud solutions offer rapid deployment without the maintenance headaches. But the choice isn't so clear-cut.
With no Olympics or elections driving advertising revenue in 2025, reducing costs will be a top priority across the media industry. One of the ways broadcasters will navigate the challenge is to do the maths to determine whether it's more cost-effective to run their operations on-prem or in the cloud.
For example, if you're deploying a disaster recovery solution or operating FAST channels that are never going to touch an antenna, it's probably cheaper to do it in the cloud. But if you're running 24/7/365 workflows or have significant investments in studios, IT teams, HVAC systems, and backup generators, on-prem solutions may make better economic sense.
A hybrid strategy may turn out to be the optimal approach, with high-value channels and time-consuming resources run on-prem and the cloud used wherever it makes economic sense, including as a testbed for new ideas and to quickly launch new services. The balance between on-prem and the cloud will change based on percentage of usage, the kind of workflows and solutions needed over time, and the fluctuating cost of the cloud.
A one-and-done calculation won't cut it in a rapidly changing industry. So as we head into 2025 and beyond, broadcasters may need to regularly revisit the TCO maths to determine whether on-prem, cloud, or a hybrid of both will best meet their unique needs and budgets.
Where cloud makes sense (and an on-ramp to get there) While keeping things on-prem makes operational and economic sense for many broadcast workflows, one area where the balance has skewed in favour of the cloud is remote production. Paris 2024 stood out in what was a banner year for sports, which helped accelerate the move toward remote and cloud-based production thanks to SMPTE ST 2110 and the native IP protocols used for contribution to cloud.
One example is the synthesis between 2110 and JPEG XS - basically native IP speaking to native IP via VSF TR-07 and TR-08 technical recommendations - which was proven on the world stage at the Paris Games. We've also seen extensive use of H.264 via SRT in cases where the cost vs. bandwidth trade-off favours higher compression. These advancements not only exceeded expectations, but also established valuable proof points and case studies, which will help drive broader industry adoption.
In 2025, sports broadcasting will cont
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
03/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on the proposed $6.2 billion Nexstar acquisition for Tegna and set deadlines f...
03/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
03/12/2025
NEW YORK Great American Media said it plans to launch Pure Flix Familia, a dedicated Spanish-language platform, in 2026....
03/12/2025
SOUTHPORT, Conn. Main Street Sports Group has announced that the FanDuel Sports Network app is now available directly on Vizio and on smart TVs with Vizio OS. T...
03/12/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Telia, the second-largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's c...
03/12/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. Sinclair said Jay Zollar, vice president and general manager of WLUK-WCWF here, will retire Dec. 31 after 26 years running the stations. Station...
02/12/2025
Case Study: How Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Moved to All-IP Distribution in 60 D...
02/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Lee Corso, Coach, Commentator, FirebrandBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | S...
02/12/2025
SVG All-Stars: Dan Nabors, Senior Director, Remote Engineering, TNT SportsThe veteran tech leader is helping guide Warner Bros. Discovery's at-home' re...
02/12/2025
National Lacrosse League Opens Season With New Cloud-Based Official Replay-Revie...
02/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: The Cinematic Look in Live Production - Bridging Aesthetic...
02/12/2025
SVG India Announces Advisory Board; JioStar's Prashant Khanna Named ChairmanBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 11:15 am
Print This Story |...
02/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: New AI Production Tools Workshop' Features ESPN, F...
02/12/2025
Written and directed by Hailey Gates, Atropia won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival....
02/12/2025
The lightweight and highly portable CORVUS-RAVEN, recently demonstrated at the V...
02/12/2025
The lightweight, rugged Panther 2 tri-band VSAT delivers high-speed data communications for Internet, VPN connectivity and video transmission over commercial an...
02/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
02/12/2025
NGID volunteers in the United States
NGID volunteers in Mexico
NGID volunteers in India
NGID volunteers in Spain
NGID volunteers in Australia
NGID voluntee...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
SAN DIEGO Sony Electronics today introduced the Alpha 7 V (ILCE-7M5), the fifth generation of its Alpha 7 full-frame mirrorless lineup, powered by the newly dev...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on Nexstar Media Group's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna and se...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters has added a trio of media executives, Veronica Rodriguez, Matt Schnaars and Jeff Warshaw, to its board of di...
02/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
02/12/2025
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced a new Service Provider Partner agreement with NPC Media, the Australian managed p...
02/12/2025
DPA Microphones today announces the immediate availability of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System for customers throughout the U.S. In addition ...
02/12/2025
Hiltron Communications reports a well attended and successful Space Tech Expo exhibition, held at the Messe Bremen from Tuesday November 18 through Thursday Nov...
02/12/2025
The beginning of September saw Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, in association with Channel 9 and Triple M, kick off the 2025 Brisbane Festival in spec...
02/12/2025
SGM Lighting is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with ACT Entertainment, under which ACT will serve as the exclusive distributor for SGM's ne...
02/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Telia, the second largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's i...
02/12/2025
European cloud data protection specialist Keepit is expanding its sales network in the DACH region and has gained TIM AG, one of the leading value-added distrib...
02/12/2025
Featured products at ISE 2026
This year s ISE 2026 theme "Push Beyond" reflects Calrec s direction of travel. The company is dedicated to supporting the AV an...
02/12/2025
Czech Television, the national public broadcaster, has deployed one of the largest LiveU live production projects in the region for live sports and news coverag...
02/12/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced the release of v8.2 software for its ZEN and ZEN-W Series, bringing advanced cinematic camera se...
02/12/2025
Global provider of video streaming software and services, Accedo, and OTT platform provider, Magine Pro, have signed a binding agreement to carve out and merge ...
02/12/2025
With proven success in broadcast, OTT, and content supply chains, K.S Avinash set to scale Skandha's service-first approach across APAC
Skandha Media Servi...
02/12/2025
AJA Video Systems has joined the RAVENNA community, a network of partners devoted to advancing the RAVENNA standard for distributing real-time audio over intern...
02/12/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair and its wholly-owned subsidiary One Media Technologies have released a new report focused on how ATSC 3.0, the IP-based NextGen TV sta...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee have elected four industry veterans to three-year terms on the organization's board of direc...
02/12/2025
A new survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan highlights how important social media is for younger consumers, with Gen Z spending 5.1 hours a day on so...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
02/12/2025
Today, Mistral AI announced the Mistral 3 family of open-source multilingual, multimodal models, optimized across NVIDIA supercomputing and edge platforms.
M...
02/12/2025
Ring In The Holidays With Our Biggest Sale Ever On Ivory II Pianos!From now until December 31st, you can save 50% or more on every Ivory II piano and collection...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in America: How Stranger Things' Electrified the US Economy
Entertainment
02 December 2025
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to cl...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Culinary Class Wars' Season 2 Trailer Teases New Rules, R...
02/12/2025
--
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Unio...
02/12/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Will Redefine Subscribers' Quality of Experience, Lowering Churn SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 2, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today...
02/12/2025
At AWS re:Invent, NVIDIA and Amazon Web Services expanded their strategic collab...
Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications, offers a view on the trends he believes will significantly impact the way the media and entertainment industry creates, delivers, and monetises content over the next 12 months and beyond
