In a context of industry transformation, the key priority is openness and interoperability. This is the view of Andy Rayner, CTO at Appear, who joins Industry Voices to reflect on both the company’s evolution and the broader changes shaping the broadcast sector.

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Appear has positioned its X Platform as a core infrastructure layer between acquisition and production, and is now expanding beyond that foundation with VX, its recently launched software platform, designed to extend into the live production workflow.

Within this context of transformation, Rayner places particular emphasis on initiatives such as the Digital Media Facility (DMF). “What we need, and I’m encouraged by the signs I’ve seen in the last six months, is collaboration between end users — broadcasters and content creators — and vendors, to build interoperable and standardized solutions,” he notes.

He also addresses the role of cloud, pointing towards hybrid models that combine on-premise infrastructure with public cloud capacity: “There has been an assumption that everything would move to hyperscaler public cloud, but I don’t think that’s where the industry is heading.”

He further reflects on the growing impact of AI and the continued rise of remote production. On this latter point, and following its acceleration during the pandemic, he adds: “I think the main impediment in previous years has been perceived risk. A lot of the decisions made in our industry, at many levels, are based on risk. And some of that risk is genuine, but some of it is perceived”.

Below, the full interview.

First, as the NAB Show has just concluded a few days ago, what were the main topics of conversation with clients and colleagues?

First of all, I think it was a great event. It was very positive. We had our stand and the traction we had there was really positive for us. From a business perspective, it was great and we furthered a lot of relationships.

From a technology perspective, there were two or three main strands relevant to us as an organization. One is the continual evolution of centralized, remote or distributed production. That’s an ever-evolving trend in the market and obviously very relevant for us, as we provide the infrastructure connectivity between acquisition and production. So that was an area of continued interest from many customers globally.

Another key one, which we are significantly involved in, is the Digital Media Facility — DMF — evolution. That sparked a lot of interest. Last year there were some initial conversations around MXL, which is a small component of DMF. What I’m very pleased with now is the focus on the whole evolving live production workflow, rather than just MXL. MXL is a very important component, but it is just another digital connector within the infrastructure.

I’m chairing one of the four DMF strands currently in progress — the one on timing and synchronization. And I think the broader industry focus on the full picture has been very positive. It’s good to see traction with end users, content creators and vendors working together to make this work.

And then, of course, across the show there were also ongoing conversations about how AI is transforming the industry. For me personally, within Appear, the biggest focus right now is on how AI is transforming the way we work internally — particularly moving towards what I would call AI-centric development, rather than AI-assisted development. At the same time, we’re also looking at how AI can support customers in using our solutions.

“The biggest focus right now is on how AI is transforming the way we work internally — particularly moving towards what I would call AI-centric development, rather than AI-assisted development.

You’ve mentioned that you’re significantly involved in the DMF initiative. What is your specific role in it?

We see this as a vital component for the future of the industry. At the moment, there is the JTDMF — the Joint Task Force for the Digital Media Facility — and I’ve been very involved in that since its onset. I’m chairing one of the four groups, so I spend a lot of time liaising with people across the industry.

If I go down to the MXL layer for a moment, I have one team member working on the requirements council for MXL, and one of our senior developers is helping to develop the MXL SDK.

So we are involved across all layers of the DMF. In fact, I was speaking about this yesterday — I was chairing an event at BT Tower in London — and we talked a lot about the DMF work. So it’s something I’m discussing quite a lot across the industry at the moment.

Now I’d like to dive into Appear’s technological roadmap. How do you assess the company’s recent evolution and what strategy have you been following?

As you’re aware, with our X Platform we have become the de facto industry technology choice for infrastructure between acquisition and production. One of our key focuses is to further deepen that capability and make sure we address all of our customers’ requirements in that space. We’re doing a lot of work with customers and we’re continuously evolving the platform together with them to maintain that position in the market.

The second point is product evolution beyond that core. We are expanding into parts of the live production processing workflow, specifically with our new software platform, VX, which was launched last year. VX is not intended to replace the X Platform. The X Platform will maintain its role in infrastructure between acquisition and production. But once you move into production, the software tools we’re developing aim to bring our expertise into those areas and create interoperable components that can be used across the live production chain.

So, in essence, we are deepening our current strengths and broadening into software tools to cover additional requirements downstream of our traditional space. And, of course, all of this is being developed with an open standards approach — both in X Platform and in the software toolkit. We were part of the Interop demos at NAB, demonstrating MXL working within our software toolkit.

Looking ahead, what are the main technological priorities for the company?

We have a firm belief that the future is hybrid — combining hardware and software. Hardware will continue to play a key role, particularly in long-haul connectivity infrastructure, which is where our X Platform sits. At the same time, there is increasing demand for software tools in the live production environment.

One of the key drivers behind the Digital Media Facility, and what MXL enables as a media exchange connector, is to allow end users to deploy multi-vendor software applications. That means they can choose best-of-breed components, similar to what they have done for decades in the hardware world. So the key priority is openness and interoperability — giving end users that flexibility and choice — and we aim to provide as many of those components as we can.

“We are seeing a model where baseline workflows run on-premise — either in customer facilities or private data centres — and public cloud is used for additional capacity when needed”

In the current context of technological and business transformation, which advancements — like IP, cloud or AI — are having the most practical impact on your business today?

I would differentiate between internal impact and product impact. Internally, we are ramping up very aggressively in the use of AI tools. This is primarily within engineering and development, but also in other areas such as finance. It’s not about replacing people, but it significantly increases what we can achieve.

In terms of the product side, cloud is an interesting topic. There is clearly a shift towards software-based production tools, but that doesn’t necessarily mean everything will run on public cloud infrastructure. There has been an assumption that everything would move to hyperscaler public cloud, but I don’t think that’s where the industry is heading. What we are seeing is a model where baseline workflows run on-premise — either in customer facilities or private data centres — and public cloud is used for additional capacity when needed. So, baseline requirements are handled on owned infrastructure, and burst capacity is handled in the cloud. That seems to be the direction things are moving.

From a customer perspective, how are your clients’ profiles and needs evolving, and how is that influencing your roadmap?

Cost consciousness is always there. At the same time, customers are looking to differentiate themselves in production. With the democratization of production — with low-cost tools and more content being created — many of our customers, typically Tier 1, are looking to increase their production value.

That can be through video and audio quality, or through personalization, which will likely become more important in the coming years. What we are seeing is a need for increased flexibility — doing more, increasing production value, but within a manageable cost base.

One interesting shift is the use of unmanaged public internet for live production. Ten years ago, that would have been unthinkable — everything relied on private leased lines. Now, two things have changed. First, public internet performance has improved significantly. Second, technologies like ARQ, SRT, RTP merge and FEC — which we support in our X Platform — allow customers to use that infrastructure in a reliable way. That’s a very important development.

“With the democratization of production — with low-cost tools and more content being created — many of our customers, typically Tier 1, are looking to increase their production value”

I’d like to ask you about one of those Tier 1 clients, FOX Sports. Regarding your partnership to support the evolution of its live production infrastructure, what does it represent at a strategic level?

First of all, it represents trust — in our current product and in our roadmap. FOX Sports has strong ambitions, particularly around REMI production, and we’ve been instrumental in supporting that. One of the key strengths of our X Platform is its density. In a single 2RU unit, we can backhaul up to 96 full HD video services, with any compression format. That translates into savings in transport, power and overall efficiency.

More broadly, this industry is about relationships. The partnership we’ve built with FOX Sports — and with other major customers — is critical. We work closely with them, and their feedback helps shape our roadmap.

In this regard, to what extent do you believe REMI will become the standard for live production?

It’s an ongoing and inevitable journey. More and more production will move towards centralized REMI models. I think the main impediment in previous years has been perceived risk. A lot of the decisions made in our industry, at many levels, are based on risk. And some of that risk is genuine, but some of it is perceived, in my view. COVID forced the industry to take those risks, and once people saw how effective centralized production could be, adoption accelerated.

We are also enabling different types of REMI workflows — from high-bandwidth, lightly compressed solutions like JPEG XS, to more efficient HEVC compression, where you can run a production over a single gigabit connection. So all of these factors are coming together. REMI will continue to grow and will become the norm. There are also environmental benefits, as it reduces the need to move equipment and crews.

To finish, if you had to point to one key challenge that will shape the evolution of the industry in the coming years, what would it be?

I would go back to the Digital Media Facility. What we need, and I’m encouraged by the signs I’ve seen in the last six months, is collaboration between end users — broadcasters and content creators — and vendors, to build interoperable and standardized solutions. This is not just about MXL. It also involves control planes, orchestration, resource management — a whole set of components.

We will only achieve real interoperability if the industry works together. So far, the signs are quite promising. From what we’ve seen in the first months of 2026, there are encouraging indications.

Would you like to add anything else?

Just to say that I’m immensely proud of the team at Appear. We’ve built a strong capability across engineering, product, sales and technical teams. For me, this industry is about people and relationships. That’s what makes the job enjoyable and what makes it worth doing every day.

“We will only achieve real interoperability if the industry works together. So far, the signs are quite promising”