The Evolution of Communications in Cloud Era of Global Broadcasting

At Milano Cortina 2026, one statistic stood out across industry reporting: 70% of global signal distribution is now happening over public cloud. What began as experimentation just a few Olympic cycles ago has rapidly become operational reality. When video and audio move into the cloud, intercom cannot remain tied to the rack room.

From Centralized Rooms to Distributed Teams

For decades, communications systems closely mirrored production itself. Infrastructure was centralized and hardware-driven. Conversations moved across physical cabling. Redundancy required additional equipment. Global reach depended on satellite. That model worked when production was geographically contained and signal paths were largely linear, but global events now operate differently.

Media workflows extend across multiple venues, international broadcast centers, remote production hubs, distributed engineering teams, and cloud-based infrastructure. Directors may be located in one country while operators and technical supervisors work in others. In this environment, communications is no longer support infrastructure. It has become a core operational layer that enables distributed production to function as a unified whole.

Hybrid is the New Baseline

Milano Cortina 2026 underscored a shift already underway across the industry. Hybrid cloud architectures are no longer experimental. They are becoming standard practice. Software-defined workflows are replacing fixed hardware paths. Virtualized systems are reducing physical footprint. Remote access is decreasing the need for large onsite deployments. Centralized data centers are gradually replacing duplicated, high-power installations across venues.

For signal distribution, the benefits are clear: scalability and agility. For communications, the implications are structural.

Intercom systems must now operate securely across cloud environments, support users over IP networks, maintain ultra-low latency, interoperate with established matrix infrastructure, and scale dynamically to meet event demands.

Communications infrastructure increasingly operates within elastic, software-driven architectures and must perform accordingly. Interoperability has become central to that evolution. Modern intercom environments are rarely built from a single platform or generation of technology. They combine legacy matrix systems, IP-based networks, virtualized resources, and emerging cloud-native tools. Communications systems must bridge those environments seamlessly, allowing established infrastructure and new workflows to function as part of a cohesive whole rather than parallel silos.

Technology Evolves. The Human Layer Remains.

Software-defined broadcasting has introduced new levels of flexibility. Systems can be deployed and reconfigured in real time, shifting between physical and virtual environments with increasing ease. What has not changed is the human element of live production. Behind every transition is a team coordinating in real time, and behind every cue is a decision made under pressure.

Mike Kieffer, Vice President and Brand Leader at RTS Intercoms, notes, Even during the most technologically advanced productions, the fundamentals never change. People still cue talent. Engineers still coordinate transitions. Producers still make split second decisions. Directors still call the show. Technology evolves, but the human layer remains the constant.

As operations become more geographically distributed, the reliability of communication becomes even more critical. After all, physical distance does not lower expectations. Teams need to coordinate in real time, often across time zones and network boundaries. The margin for error does not expand simply because production is distributed and the stakes are ever higher in global productions.

Sustainability and Physical Footprint

The cloud does not just change workflows; it changes the shape of the building. For decades, large-scale productions were built around equipment: racks, cooling systems, power redundancy, and physical duplication at every major venue. That model is beginning to erode. Centralized data environments consolidate what once had to be replicated. Physical infrastructure shrinks. Power and cooling demands concentrate within purpose-built facilities. The International Broadcast Center begins to look less like an industrial plant and more like a connected operations hub.

Communications cannot remain the last hardware-heavy holdout. As the broader ecosystem lightens and consolidates, intercom infrastructure must evolve alongside it. The architectural decisions being made now will define how live events operate for the next decade.

From Satellite to Network Intelligence

For years, if a production needed global reach fast, the answer was simple: book satellite. It was the default path for live distribution at scale. That assumption no longer holds.

Cloud networks are taking over many of the roles satellite once dominated. Global reach is no longer limited by orbit. It is shaped by network design. Today, teams separated by continents can operate as if they are sitting side by side. Directors, engineers, and operators speak in real time across IP networks that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. The conversation no longer depends on where the hardware is located. It depends on how the network is built.

The real change is not hardware being swapped for software. It is resilience being designed into the system itself. Redundancy can be geographic rather than physical. Capacity can expand for peak moments and contract when the show ends. Failover can happen remotely instead of in a rack room.

Communications infrastructure is no longer defined by a room full of equipment. It is defined by whether the network can adapt when the unexpected happens.

The Road to 2030

With full IT-based migration targets set

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/02/17/the-evolution-of-communications...
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