With an eye on the close of 2025 and the immediate horizon of 2026, we have consulted diverse industry leaders who have collaborated with the magazine throughout the year, inviting them to share a reflection, based on their experience, on the year coming to an end and the one ahead. Drawing on their testimonies, we take stock of the year and anticipate the key factors that will shape the evolution of the broadcast industry

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*This content is included in the December issue of TM BROADCAST. You can access the full magazine here.

The broadcast industry continues to move forward amid a complex process of transformation, in which new opportunities are emerging alongside significant challenges. This is one of the key conclusions of 2025. The transition is now unavoidable. However, when it comes to putting it into practice, difficulties arise that go beyond purely technological considerations and force the industry to rethink its models, structures and priorities.

To take the pulse of this pivotal moment, we have consulted a selection of industry leaders who have collaborated with the magazine over the past year, asking them for a review of 2025, a look ahead to 2026, and a broader reflection on the levers that will drive the sector’s growth in the medium and long term.

From this analysis, several common vectors emerge: the steady advance of the transition to IP; the progressive convergence of the broadcast, IT and ProAV worlds; growing challenges related to talent and cybersecurity; and, cutting across all of them, the impact of artificial intelligence.

We have divided this special feature —which can be read in full in the latest issue of TM BROADCAST— into seven sections. In this article, we outline the key takeaways from the chapter dedicated to the transition to IP.

Andy Bellamy (AJA): “IP video is going to become more practical for facilities, but we’re going to continue to see hybrid implementations in the near term”

2025 has been marked by renewed momentum in the transition towards IP environments, a process that, according to the professionals consulted, will continue to advance throughout 2026. This is a complex transformation, shaped by technological, operational and economic factors, and many experts point to hybrid models as the most realistic path forward, at least in the short to medium term.

From his perspective, Simen K. Frostad (Bridge Technologies) believes that IP technology has finally begun to consolidate in a tangible way in the market, beyond the dominant rhetoric of recent years. While a significant part of the industry has yet to adopt IP—particularly in production—he notes that momentum from both major and minor sports events is acting as a powerful catalyst for change:

“With both major and minor sports events starting to really champion the potential of the technology in productions this year, both global and niche, we are seeing both top-down and bottom-up forces driving adoption and pushing the industry to a position where the on-the-ground reality matches the wider rhetoric we’ve been used to hearing.”

Andy Bellamy (AJA) agrees that the transition to IP will remain central to industry debate, but stresses that progress will be gradual and most likely delivered through hybrid architectures: “The transition to IP video will continue to dominate industry conversation in the year ahead, especially as SMPTE ST 2110 becomes more accessible and approaches like Dante and NDI continue to mature and see new adoption. IP video is going to become more practical for facilities, but we’re going to continue to see hybrid implementations in the near term.”