We compare the technological landscape of these four public broadcasters, review their most prominent upgrade initiatives, and highlight a number of shared approaches

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

We observe a clear and collective move toward IP-based infrastructures, although each broadcaster is at a different stage. In contrast, there’s more hesitation around UHD, a technological leap that several broadcasters are not currently prioritizing. A hybrid approach to cloud technology and growing interest in 5G networks are also among the key topics explored. Meanwhile, the competition from global streaming platforms stands out as a major challenge

Software-based systems, “online-first” strategies, infrastructures built on IP… The broadcast world is speeding up its innovation pace, and public broadcasters are closely watching what their regional peers are doing to draw inspiration for their own next steps. While we can identify certain shared directions, each broadcaster is defining a unique strategy based on its technical evolution, specific needs, and national context.

This means there are both parallels and divergences when analyzing the technological horizon across different territories. In this report, we focus on a specific region: the Nordics. After interviewing technical leads from the public broadcasters of Sweden (SVT), Denmark (TV 2), Iceland (RÚV), and Norway (NRK)—full interviews available via the linked articles—we now aim to provide an overarching view of the media ecosystem in this region.

We also attempted to contact Finland’s public broadcaster (Yle) to include them in this series, but did not receive a response. Readers interested in learning more about Yle can refer to our past interview with Janne Yli-Äyhö, its former CTO, available through the following link.

SVT Enters a New Era

First, we’ve identified that all four broadcasters we spoke with have either recently completed or are currently undergoing ambitious technological transformation plans. SVT stands out with the recent implementation of NEO—a new software-based infrastructure for communication, distribution, and production.

“This transition is like moving from a gas engine to an electric one,” SVT’s CTO, Adde Granberg, told TM BROADCAST. “It is the most significant change I have witnessed in my 32 years in the industry. We still have our broadcast vehicles running, but now, the engine—the core of our production infrastructure—is completely new and built on proven communications technologies.”

The broadcaster has been working on this project for the past five years and officially launched it this spring. “I believe this is the biggest step SVT has taken towards software-based production in an industry traditionally reliant on hardware infrastructure,” Granberg explained.

According to SVT’s technical director, one of the main challenges was convincing both internal teams and industry peers that hardware could, to a large extent, be replaced by software—though a core infrastructure will always be needed. “We need to rethink how we set up production, how we operate, and how we design production control rooms. We also need to reconsider the traditional mindset around production workflows,” he added.

This belief in software-defined workflows is shared by TV 2. Morten Brandstrup, Head of Newstechnology at the Danish public broadcaster, told TM BROADCAST that the migration from traditional broadcast models to software-defined infrastructures represents the industry’s main axis of transformation.

When asked about their stance on cloud adoption, he stated: “For me, it doesn’t matter much whether the servers are in the cloud or on-premises. What really matters is that production is software-defined. The physical location—whether in the cloud, on-premises, or in our own VM—is not a big deal for us. What’s more important is transitioning to software-defined production, and that’s what’s truly interesting.”

Cloud adoption: A hybrid approach

Cloud usage across the different broadcasters is another area we explored in depth. All of them agree that a hybrid approach best suits their operational needs. This was underscored by Pål Nedregotten, CTO of Norway’s NRK: “Cloud services are a crucial part of our technological setup, although we’ve experienced that the cost benefits aren’t always there, and that sometimes it makes sense to retain a service on-prem.”

“It’s very much a question of utilising cloud offerings in the right way, for the right kinds of services,” Pål Nedregotten added. “We’re still planning to retain a significant presence in hosted data centres for our core production processes. The key issue is finding the right balance and flexibility—and making informed choices as the technology develops and opportunities arise.”

A similar perspective was shared by Icelandic broadcaster RÚV. “We’re confident in both cloud and on-premises technologies, and for us, it’s not about choosing one over the other,” said Gísli Berg, Head of Production and Marketing, and Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir, Director of Digital Strategy, in a joint interview with TM BROADCAST. “We take a hybrid approach that allows us to stay flexible, resilient, and cost-effective. The choice depends on the system’s purpose, how critical it is, and what level of control or scalability is needed.”

National circumstances also play a role. In Iceland, the limited presence of global cloud providers shapes decision-making. “That makes us think carefully about what should be hosted locally and what works better in the cloud, especially when considering latency, availability, and disaster scenarios,” Gísli Berg and Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir explained.

With this context in mind, RÚV outlined the core of their hybrid strategy: “Most of our production workflows are still on-prem, where we value the stability and control—particularly when it comes to managing software updates. On the other hand, we use cloud-based tools for our web infrastructure and office systems, and they’ve proven essential in handling peak traffic moments, such as during volcanic eruptions.”

Major upgrade initiatives at NRK, RÚV, and TV 2

While we’ve already covered SVT’s NEO platform, it’s far from the only major upgrade initiative underway in the Nordic public broadcasting sector. Norway’s NRK is currently undergoing a full transition to an IP-based infrastructure aligned with the SMPTE 2110 standard. This new architecture is designed around highly resilient, shared data resources and conceived for remote accessibility.

“We are in the process of standardizing our systems and have developed a working Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for this new IP-based infrastructure,” NRK’s CTO told us. “This shift also necessitates a significant upgrade in our workforce’s skillset, moving from traditional broadcast engineering to software and IP-based integration skills.”

“Our primary focus for the near future,” he added, “is the complete technological outfitting of our new, custom-built facilities. This is a massive undertaking with hard deadlines. The first major delivery will be for our new Trondheim location in 2026, which will feature the first production-ready version of our new IP-based platform.”

The most extensive and complex part of the project will be the relocation of NRK’s Oslo operations, scheduled for 2029. This includes moving 2,400 staff and completely replacing the technological backbone of its numerous radio and TV studios, as well as editing suites. “While the foundational IP architecture is set, we are still analysing future production needs to determine the final scale of studios, control rooms, and editing suites required in the next decade,” said Pål Nedregotten.

As is often the case with this kind of transition, one of the central challenges lies in ensuring continuous service throughout. “The entire project is a delicate balancing act of building the future while maintaining current broadcast operations,” the CTO summarized.

RÚV, for its part, is also undergoing a shift in its distribution strategy. “As we move our focus and investment toward channels that show stronger audience engagement, several important changes are already underway,” their technical leads told us. “We’ve switched off longwave distribution, and we have plans in place to turn off satellite distribution this year. We’re also developing a clear plan for transitioning from terrestrial television to digital distribution.”

“Our core focus is now on digital platforms, which offer greater flexibility and better alignment with how audiences consume content today,” they noted, though FM radio will remain part of the strategy—especially to support national security and emergency communication needs.

In the case of TV 2, where we focused specifically on the news department, the broadcaster’s renovation efforts are guided by a purpose: putting the story at the center. This objective has prompted a fundamental shift in workflow. The Danish public broadcaster implemented Wolftech News, a platform that has enabled the creation of an integrated system fostering collaboration between all teams involved in news production. It also optimizes resource management and, ultimately, enhances the quality of content delivered to audiences across platforms.

It’s worth noting that TV 2 is not just a traditional broadcaster—it also operates Denmark’s most visited news website and employs a staff of 650, underscoring its production capabilities.

“We needed to operate as a cross-media outlet while continuing with podcasts and various other content formats,” Morten Brandstrup explained. “Given the wide variety of content we produce, it was essential to implement a story-centric tool to ensure better coordination, prioritization, and platform-agnostic storytelling across all our different outputs.”

“Typically, we make decisions as a broadcast operation. However, in this case, we prioritized giving our online colleagues a successful platform first, then integrating our broadcast colleagues into the same system,” he added. Regarding the outcome, TV 2’s technical director was unequivocal: “It has been a huge success—far greater than we anticipated. Moving 600 staff members onto a shared news platform turned out to be less complicated than expected.”

The long road to IP

As previously mentioned, NRK is heavily invested in a large-scale transition to IP, placing this goal at the center of its technological overhaul. Broadly speaking, it’s a direction all broadcasters in the region are moving toward—although each is at a different stage.

“On the live production side, we are in the middle of a project to transition our in-house production platform to 2110,” explained Morten Brandstrup (TV 2). “We’ve spent over half a year developing an embedded operation within the Danish Parliament, staffed by more than 20 people. There, we have an NDI island connected to the main broadcast center as part of a 2110 operation. We are gradually transitioning our studios and galleries to the IP world.”

At Iceland’s RÚV, the transition is still at the evaluation stage. The broadcaster is carefully observing how other similar organizations are handling the shift before taking further steps: “While we’re not yet ready to implement the upgrade, we’re carefully assessing the available options to ensure we choose a solution that aligns with our needs and long-term goals. We are now looking at how other similar broadcasters are transitioning to IP, for the near future the production will stay in SDI.”

In a recent interview, SVT’s Adde Granberg pointed out that IP migration goes beyond the SMPTE 2110 standard. “Our transition to IP-based infrastructure at SVT is progressing, but it’s important to clarify that we’re focusing on IP in general, not specifically on SMPTE 2110. This distinction is crucial because SMPTE 2110 is a production industry standard that isn’t necessarily optimized for end-user needs, which is a key priority for us.”

5G: A new world of possibilities

As Adde Granberg noted, the value of IP-based infrastructure lies largely in the flexibility it enables—and within this context, 5G networks are increasingly coming into play.

“We’ve started using 5G for some of our news reporting, mainly through portable IP-based tech that lets us go live quickly from the field,” RÚV told us. “It’s been super helpful when setting up a full OB van isn’t really practical. That said, we still rely on OB vans for bigger broadcasts. Overall, 5G is a great addition to our toolkit, giving us more flexibility and speed when we need it most.”

In Denmark, where the country’s geography allows for a particularly robust 5G infrastructure, Morten Brandstrup described a similar approach. “We have conducted extensive experiments with private 5G networks. Instead of deploying an OB truck, we set up our private network in the conference center [referring to a success case he mentioned], allowing for quick deployment without the need for cabling. We handle around 40 such events annually.”

TV 2’s technical lead also encouraged broader reflection on the role broadcasters can play in pushing 5G beyond the media industry and promoting cross-sector collaboration. One of the core advantages of 5G is its low latency and capacity for high-quality video transmission—essential features for professional use cases such as police bodycams, security systems, facial recognition, drones, and other applications where real-time data delivery is vital for monitoring and response.

“This is where 5G becomes a truly valuable technology,” Brandstrup noted. “As broadcasters and media professionals, we may be a small industry, but we have extensive expertise in transmitting video from point A to point B, which many other sectors could benefit from. We may not be adopting 5G as quickly as some would expect, but on the other hand, it’s also about building the right business cases. The key here is that, as an industry, we should engage with other sectors to ensure we get the right services and help them understand that what we do is valuable—and that they, too, can benefit from our expertise.”

NRK echoes this view, albeit with a more cautious stance. “We have an interest in 5G as technology, but we have been slow at adopting it,” explained Pål Nedregotten. “We made some interesting trials during the Nordic Skiing championships in Trondheim, where we collaborated with Telia to produce roaming camera production using private 5G networks, while trying to use public network during medal plaza production in the evening. We learned that it has a lot of potential, but we are dependent on private networks. We also learned that latency quickly becomes an issue.”

Artificial Intelligence: The real gamechangers are still ahead of us

No overview of current trends would be complete without touching on artificial intelligence—a technology that Nordic broadcasters are gradually integrating into their workflows. At TV 2, AI is primarily being used in the newsroom for text-related tasks, such as speech-to-text transcription. However, the goal is to expand its application to more areas.

“I look forward to seeing AI more integrated into live production,” Morten Brandstrup told us. “AI could help streamline operations in galleries, especially as we move to IP and network-based workflows. AI assistance in areas like routing, network control, and live production recommendations would be incredibly valuable.”

Pål Nedregotten (NRK) agrees with Brandstrup on the current uses and future potential of AI, though he also offered a caveat: “Some of the opportunities we see are tremendous, some are frankly more hype (and cost!) than real value.”

“Automation in text to speech in our user-facing products, automatic generation of metadata, and speech to text in production processes show a lot of promise – but currently the entire business is applying AI to known problems, sometimes with tangible benefits,” he added. “I think, however, that the real gamechangers are ahead of us – where we see entirely new opportunities not tied to our current thinking.”

At RÚV, AI is also being steadily integrated with the dual aim of enhancing internal workflows and improving the user experience. “We’re making steady progress with AI to enhance both our internal workflows and the user experience. In close collaboration with software companies specialising in language technology and artificial intelligence, we’ve added a speech-to-text service for live events, which improves accessibility for our audiences.”

“We’re also using AI to generate simplified news articles, making important information more understandable and inclusive,” added Gísli Berg and Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir.

“In addition, AI supports us with proofreading and translation services and helps accelerate content production across radio and television. In the production we have been using image and video generators, we have been taking small steps and we have been setting guidelines for our staff since. We’re actively exploring further opportunities to improve our services and increase efficiency with use of AI.”

SVT, like the other broadcasters, is already applying AI to support real-time transcription and subtitling. “Beyond this,” Adde Granberg told us, “we’re exploring AI’s potential in several other areas. We’re investigating its use in content recommendation systems to enhance the viewer experience on our platforms. In post-production, we’re testing AI-assisted editing tools, which could streamline our workflow considerably. We’re also leveraging AI for more efficient archival searches, allowing us to better utilize our vast content library. Additionally, we’re experimenting with AI for content optimization, such as article summarization and spell-checking.”

He was also careful to underline that all of these tools are subject to human supervision.

UHD skepticism

One topic that generated notable consensus among the technical leads we interviewed was their cautious stance on UHD.

“We are currently broadcasting in HD, and we don’t have any plans to go beyond that resolution,” Morten Brandstrup (TV 2) stated firmly. “The reason is simple: we don’t see a viable business case for improving resolution, as viewers wouldn’t be willing to pay more for higher quality.”

At NRK, Pål Nedregotten believes HDR offers a more practical path forward. “We are producing in 1080i25 at the moment, but are considering 1080p50 for selected productions. Our distribution chain is prepared for going 1080p50. We also consider HDR more valuable to the viewer than UHD, which also makes sense from a cost perspective.”

“Currently, our focus is on optimizing our existing HD and 4K offering, ensuring we deliver the best possible quality within these formats,” Adde Granberg (SVT) told us.

RÚV takes a similar stance. “We currently broadcast in HD, though some of our content is already produced in 4K. While we’re not planning a full resolution upgrade in the near future, our next step is moving from interlaced to progressive format within HD,” explained Gísli Berg and Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir.

Toward HTML-based graphics solutions

Graphics is another area where several broadcasters are carrying out ambitious renewal projects. One example is TV 2, whose news department has undertaken a series of initiatives in line with its “online-first” strategy.

“We used to produce graphics using templates, with dedicated graphics staff working on them daily. However, we’ve changed our approach. Our graphic designers now primarily work with Adobe, creating graphics that are suitable for both TV and online platforms, following an online-first strategy,” said Morten Brandstrup.

The aim is to make graphic elements reusable across platforms, which has also reshaped their production priorities. “As a result, we reuse more two-dimensional graphics for prime-time shows while reducing our use of virtual or immersive graphics. While virtual graphics may look impressive in the studio for prime-time news, spending one or two days creating a 20-second scene isn’t practical for online content.” The Danish broadcaster is also gradually adopting HTML-based graphics as its standard.

TV 2 has also begun using virtual studios for some of its programming—a field where RÚV has made significant progress as well: “One of the highlights has been the adoption of Pixotope’s virtual production technology. It’s allowed us to streamline our broadcasting process and make it more eco-friendly by reducing the need for physical sets. So far, we’ve produced six new series with this technology,” said Gísli Berg y Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir.

In the realm of graphics, RÚV has also introduced workflow changes tailored to sports production: “We have improved our production workflow for more automated solutions for sport coverage.”

NRK, for its part, shares TV 2’s commitment to HTML-based graphics: “We have an in-house developed HTML graphics solution called NORA that basically handles our main graphics demands.”

The expanding shadow of streaming platforms

The “online-first” strategy mentioned by Morten Brandstrup (TV 2) brings us to the final area of analysis: OTT and streaming services—domains that are increasingly shaping the future of television.

“I think it’s fair to say that the tipping point from linear to streaming is very close. In many user groups, it’s clearly already happened,” noted Pål Nedregotten (NRK). “Currently, roughly one third of our viewers choose streaming when accessing our content. Linear holds steady compared to last year, while streaming is growing. So our total reach is actually increasing—but it’s very much streaming that is the growth factor.”

“This is a trend that potentially has a profound impact on the way we approach our programming,” he added. “But it’s also a shift that in time has the potential to impact the entire technological value chain, from the choices we make in distribution, to internal discussions on the right technological quality. And of course it impacts the way we approach the player end.”

NRK also highlighted challenges related to compatibility with older smart TV models. “Maintaining and developing across a whole range of different operating systems with varying degree of technological support is, quite frankly, expensive.”

This concern is echoed by Iceland’s RÚV: “We’ve managed our own OTT platform for years, but we’re now exploring more standardised solutions. Supporting all major smart TV platforms is a key priority, and managing multiple in-house platforms is complex. Big streaming services have raised the bar for performance and usability, and we want to meet those expectations as we put more focus on digital distribution.”

The overwhelming influence of global streaming platforms is also felt at NRK. “While we could never compete with the budgets of the worldwide streaming platforms, we’re nonetheless judged by our users using the same yardstick.”