Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Broadcast and the IT industry: an inevitable evolution?

23/12/2024

At IBC2024, Grass Valley CTO Ian Fletcher told attendees at GV Forum that broadcast is now an IT industry. During our discussions at the show, TVBEurope heard varying degrees of agreement with that statement. Here, industry stakeholders share their thoughts on the subject

By TVBEurope Staff

Published: December 20, 2024 Updated: December 23, 2024

At IBC2024, Grass Valley CTO Ian Fletcher told attendees at GV Forum that broadcast is now an IT industry. During our discussions at the show, TVBEurope heard varying degrees of agreement with that statement. Here, industry stakeholders share their thoughts on the subject

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>

Ian Fletcher, chief technology officer, Grass Valley The shift from traditional broadcasting to an IT-driven operation hasn't happened overnight, but it's been in the making for years. The broadcasters who have successfully adapted to this shift are those who recognised early on that the worlds of broadcast engineering and IT were not separate entities but interdependent ones. Historically, these departments operated under very different rules and conditions, which sometimes led to conflicts - like the infamous Friday afternoon firewall changes by IT, leaving broadcasters scrambling over the weekend.

However, as we move towards software-based processing and cloud-based solutions, it's become clear that these two fields need to work more closely together. Some broadcasters are essentially transforming their on-prem facilities into data centres, making them face a critical decision: should they continue owning these infrastructures or outsource them to the cloud? It's a balancing act, with pros and cons to both.

But while the technological evolution towards Kubernetes and microservices is inevitable, it's crucial to acknowledge that these systems require much more attention than the old hardware setups. I've seen broadcasters who haven't touched their systems in a decade because they simply didn't need to. With modern tech, though, it's a different story - you need to feed and water your Kubernetes clusters, applying security patches and keeping everything up to date.

The reality is that not every broadcaster has the resources or technical expertise to manage these complex systems. That's why it's important to use the right technology at the right place in the chain. For enterprise broadcasters with in-house expertise, a deep dive into advanced IT systems makes sense. For others, a more simplified, broadcast-friendly solution is essential to ensure they're not bogged down by complexity, allowing them to focus on what they do best: broadcasting.

Andy Bell, chief engineer, Channel 4 There are many reasons why we could label the broadcast Industry, as another part of the IT industry. If you look at the last decade and our industry's transition away from traditional bespoke broadcast infrastructure to everything having an IP address and deployed in the cloud, you can see why the argument is made.

Having experienced the transition from analogue technology to digital in the 1990's, where video and audio signals took a giant leap from a broad level of variation to zeros and ones', I accept that switching to a digital world was quite straightforward to understand. Of course, switching from broadcast to IP could also be argued in the same way, as that transition has been relatively fast. Only ten years ago, nobody would have dreamed of trying to deliver broadcast signals via anything other than broadcast-grade kit from a specific manufacturer. Fast forward to 2024 and the first decision is how you architect your platform in the cloud, not whether you should try and use the cloud.

With all of this said, and with nothing but respect for the IT industry, there remains quite a difference between running an IT operation and running a broadcast operation. In broadcasting you require specific craft skills to create, editorialise, prepare, convert, localise, add accessibility and market content. The differences between broadcast and IT are closing, but are still vast.

Robert Ambrose, managing director and co-founder, Caretta Research The broadcast and media industry has adopted software and IT solutions at scale for 20+ years, and the rise of public cloud providers means more and more workflows are running efficiently and reliably on standard IT infrastructure - from live production to linear playout and streaming. That's helping to drive down costs, and increasing innovation and agility.

What makes us different as an industry is scale - or rather the lack of it. We've seen some vendors adopting a standardised SaaS model, especially where there's scale across other industries like with Adobe Creative Cloud. But for most products, a one size fits all approach is too much of a challenge in a very heterogeneous industry.

What a major public broadcaster needs is different from a telco pay-TV operator or a small content distributor. They can all use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 to run their business, but they each have quite different needs and budgets when it comes to MAM, rights management or streaming platforms.

But, and it's a big but, we need to get away from the we're different mindset. There's still far too much reinventing of the wheel by buyers when an off-the-shelf product will meet 80 per cent of the requirements much faster. When it comes to ROI, time-to-market wins every time.

At the same time, some technology vendors need to do much more to invest in keeping their products up to date. The IT industry delivers multiple releases a day. Some broadcast products are lucky to see a few updates a year, and frankly, too many vendors have underinvested in their products for too long, leaving them to wither on the vine, b
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/ip-migration/broadcast-and-the-it-industry-a...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

24/09/2026

Broadcast Management Group Assists Virginia Public Media With Move to New HQ in Richmond

Broadcast Management Group (BMG) is supporting Virginia Public Media (VPM), the ...

24/09/2026

Two Red Digital Cinema Cameras Receive GhostFrame Pro Certification

RED Digital Cinema's RED V-RAPTOR [X] and RED V-RAPTOR XL [X] cameras with the Phantom Track feature are the first cameras to receive GhostFrame Pro Certifi...

24/09/2026

FOX Sports Adds 4K Live Stream on Tubi to List of Available Options for Cowboys-Eagles on Thanksgiving Day

Bringing together the full family of networks, FOX Sports is also adding Tubi, F...

24/09/2026

Virginia Techs Lane Stadium Invests in Gameday Experience with New Daktronics LED Display, Audio Solutions

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has unveiled...

24/09/2026

SVG AI Innovation Lab Blog Tracks How AI Is Reshaping Live Sports Production

The blog collects SVG's reporting on AI across U.S. and European sports broadcasting Since SVG launched the AI Innovation Lab in April to advance the devel...

24/09/2026

SVG TranSPORT Keynote Conversation: How FOX Built a Transcontinental Transmission Backbone for the FIFA World Cup

SVG's annual TranSPORT conference, which will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 20 in...

24/09/2026

FloSports is Using AI To Build a New Generation of Live Production Tools to Bolster the Streamer's Internal Operations

The self-built Master Control Room has cut streaming operations incident-respo...

24/09/2026

Ortana Links AudioShake, ScorePlay for Live and Archive Audio Cleanup

Ortana Media Group, the software systems integrator behind the Cubix workflow platform, has connected AudioShake's audio separation models to ScorePlay thro...

24/09/2026

AudioShake Debuts Multi-Speaker 2.0 for Separating Overlapping Voices

AudioShake has released Multi-Speaker 2.0, the company's newest Multi-Speaker model, which removes 75% more noise and offers 32% better separation of overla...

24/09/2026

Op-Ed: Planning Media Day When the Calendar Isn't Certain - How MLB Clubs Can Prepare for 2027 Now

By Jon Morgan, Founder and Executive Producer, Ryval Studios For Major League B...

24/09/2026

Spectrum SportsNet Reveals Los Angeles Lakers Broadcast, Programming Schedule for the 2026-27 Season

Spectrum SportsNet has revealed its comprehensive programming and live game broa...

24/09/2026

Charlotte Hornets Ink Broadcast Deals With Gray Media, Sinclair to Bring Games to More Fans Across the Carolinas

The Charlotte Hornets has unveiled new broadcast partnerships with Gray Media an...

24/09/2026

Detroit Pistons Name DAZN as Exclusive DTC Streaming Platform

DAZN will be the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming partner for the Detroit Pistons beginning with the 2026-27 season. Subscriptions are available at DAZN.c...

24/09/2026

Minnesota Wild Games Become Available to Spectrum Customers

The National Hockey League (NHL) has made an agreement with Spectrum that will allow Spectrum TV customers in the Minnesota Wild local broadcast territory to wa...

24/09/2026

Carolina Hurricanes, Spectrum Sign Multi-Year Agreement for Hurricanes Hockey Network Distribution

The Carolina Hurricanes has reached a multi-year distribution agreement to provi...

24/09/2026

Regional Games of the St. Louis Blues To Be Exclusively Broadcasted on Blue Note+

The St. Louis Blues has introduced Blue Note as the name of the new, exclusive ...

24/09/2026

Columbus Blue Jackets Games Head to Spectrum TV

Blue Jackets Hockey Network, the television home for Blue Jackets hockey, is coming to Spectrum TV under a new carriage agreement between the National Hockey Le...

24/09/2026

Waves introduce Tracks Live 2.0

The next generation of multitrack recording for live sound The latest version of Waves' dedicated live multitrack recording software delivers an array ...

24/09/2026

Polyend introduce the Loop

An idea machine for musicians Described as an idea machine for musicians , the latest addition to Polyend's growing collection of guitar pedals combin...

24/09/2026

Synchro Arts unveil VocAlign 7

Alignment tool gains multitrack layout Synchro Arts have just launched the latest version of their renowned time-alignment plug-in, and it's said to be ...

24/09/2026

Expressive E update the Osmose

Synth gains DAW Control & Ctrl-e integration Expressive E have just released a major firmware update that brings some interesting new features to the Osmose...

24/09/2026

Rohde & Schwarz expands its system amplifier portfolio with the R&SSAM200 for applications up to 53 GHz

Rohde & Schwarz expands its system amplifier portfolio with the R&S SAM200 for a...

24/09/2026

Hitachi Launches Startup Challenge, Calling on Innovators Worldwide to Shape the Future of Mobility and Manufacturing Solutions

September 24, 2026 The Hitachi Startup Challenge FY26 invites innovative startu...

24/09/2026

NHK Technologies, Inc. Chooses Calrec for Sports Production

Download Now! To receive a short case study showcasing NHK Technologies, Inc. (NT) s audio setup, please enter the following details: -- First Name* Fir...

24/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America Brie Clayton September 24, 2026 0 Comments Brings three decades of broadcast e...

24/09/2026

UNIFACHA Expands Educational Program with DaVinci Resolve Studio

UNIFACHA Expands Educational Program with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton September 24, 2026 0 Comments Brazilian university empowers next generat...

24/09/2026

NABA To Convene Cyber University 2.0 To Address Cybersecurity Strategies

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

Big Blue Marble Makes the Origin of Austrian Parliament V...

Viewers watching videos from the Austrian Parliament online will soon find it easier to verify the authenticity of the content. Big Blue Marble, an internationa...

24/09/2026

nsign and Sony collaborate to simplify digital signage de...

nsign, the digital signage SaaS platform built around its Simplify Complexity principle, is now officially certified for BRAVIA Professional Displays from Son...

24/09/2026

Viaplay Selects Encompass Altitude Scheduling to Transfor...

Encompass Digital Media today announced the successful migration of multiple Viaplay free-to-air channels, including TV3, TV6, TV8 and TV10, to its Altitude Sch...

24/09/2026

Standalone Streaming Services Continue to Decline in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

Hollyland Unveils LARK M3 Wireless Audio System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

Adobe Completes Purchase Of Topaz Labs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

FCC to Vote on Satellite Spectrum, Unlicensed Ultra-Wideband Devices

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

LYNX Technik Launches New Series 5000 Card

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/09/2026

KRK V SERIES MONITORS HELP INDUSTRY VETERAN SANTIAGO URI...

Music Supervisor, Composer, and Mixing Engineer Santiago Uribe has built a career around producing music for film and television, contributing to more than 40 p...

24/09/2026

NABA Cyber University to Convene Broadcast Industry Leade...

The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) will hold a full-day cybersecurity summit focused on defending against growing cyber threats facing the broad...

24/09/2026

UKTV COMMISSIONS EIGHTH SERIES OF CANAL BOAT DIARIES

London, 24th September 2026: UKTV has commissioned an eighth series of Canal Boat Diaries (8x60') for U (u.co.uk) and U&YESTERDAY, with waterways explorer R...

24/09/2026

Tribeca Festival And AT&T Open Submissions For 10th Anniversary AT&T Untold Stories Program, Featuring $1.2 Million Production Prize

September 24th, 2026 TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND AT&T OPEN SUBMISSIONS FOR 10TH ANNIVE...

24/09/2026

Why touch matters in the digital age

From the buzz of your phone when a message arrives to surgeons being able to feel' the patients they are examining from hundreds of kilometres away, these ...

24/09/2026

Maximising the golden quarter for retail

As Q4 approaches, retailers enter the most critical sales window of the year the golden quarter. Stretching from October through December, this period encomp...

24/09/2026

Lightcurve Teams Up with Harmonic to Deliver Multi-Gigabit Broadband Services to MDUs over Coax

Key Takeaways Harmonic's cOS virtualized platform enables Lightcurve to de...

24/09/2026

HARRY CORRY RENEWS LIVELINE SPONSORSHIP ON RT RADIO 1

The home interiors retailer signs up for third year as sponsor RT Commercial today announced that Harry Corry has signed up to a third year as sponsor of Live...

24/09/2026

How Open Science Can Help Researchers Prepare for the Next Pandemic

When COVID-19 emerged, scientists had a crucial advantage: Decades of prior research on coronaviruses meant they understood the virus' key proteins well eno...

24/09/2026

RT Radio 1 Folk Awards Tickets on Sale | Dolores Keane inducted into Hall of Fame

RT Radio 1 Folk Awards Tickets on Sale Dolores Keane to be inducted into the...