We interview Gísli Berg, Head of Production and Marketing, and Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir, Director of Digital Strategy, to explore the current technological state of Iceland’s public broadcaster

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

It’s interesting to see how the specific social and geographical circumstances of each country influence the technological developments of their television networks. In Iceland’s case, for example, the population has a particular interest in weather-related news, which has led the public broadcaster, RÚV, to improve its coverage in this area through a new graphics tool.

After exploring the technological landscape of TV 2 Denmark and Sweden’s SVT, it’s now time to take a closer look at Iceland’s public broadcaster, as part of our goal to offer a comprehensive overview of the current television ecosystem in the Nordic countries.

Helping us in this task are Gísli Berg, Head of Production and Marketing, and Hrefna Lind Ásgeirsdóttir, Director of Digital Strategy. As they explain, RÚV is undergoing a transformation that particularly affects its distribution strategy: “As we move our focus and investment toward channels that show stronger audience engagement, several important changes are already underway”.

Throughout the interview, we explore their main projects and innovations, and we analyse how the broadcaster is adopting some of the industry’s key technologies.

To start off, what has been RÚV’s recent evolution from a technical standpoint?

RÚV is going through a significant shift in how we approach distribution. As we move our focus and investment toward channels that show stronger audience engagement, several important changes are already underway.

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. FM will remain part of our strategy, especially in supporting national security and emergency communications.

Have you implemented any recent technological innovations or upgrades that you would like to highlight?

We are always open to adopting new technologies that support our digital journey, and we’ve made some exciting advancements recently. 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, and our users have really enjoyed the experience. We’re excited to continue exploring what’s next.

We’ve also focused on enhancing our weather news coverage, which is especially important in Iceland due to the rapidly changing weather. Icelanders are very weather-conscious, and we want to make sure they have access to reliable, up-to-date information. To that end, we’ve recently deployed a new weather section on our website where users can view both short-term and long-term forecasts, as well as weather news, all in one place.

On top of that, we integrated the Raiden graphic weather system from Ross, giving us greater flexibility in how we deliver weather updates on television.

“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”

Are there any interesting projects or upgrades in the near future that you can share with us?

One exciting project we’re focused on right now is replacing our archive system and associated media storage. It’s a major upgrade that will help us better manage and preserve our media assets.

A central goal of this project is to make the archive searchable and accessible to the public, so that Icelanders can engage with the media we’ve produced as part of our shared cultural heritage. It’s an important step in opening that history and ensuring it remains available for future generations.

In parallel, we’re mapping out our legacy systems and planning their replacement. This is part of a broader effort to modernize our technical infrastructure, enabling us to deliver faster, more reliable digital services.

What is your current technological landscape when it comes to the transition from SDI to IP on the production side?

Currently, we’re evaluating the best approach for transitioning from SDI to IP in our production workflows. 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 which resolution are you currently broadcasting? In this sense, do you have in mind any plans to upgrade the quality of your productions?

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.

In news or sports production, graphics are a key element. In this regard, how do you approach this area, and to what extent have you tested immersive technologies or augmented reality?

Since the beginning of last year we have made a complete change of how we produce and use graphics in our sport production. We have been upgrading our graphics systems from CasparCG to Xpression from Ross Video, now all our studios run on Xpression graphic systems as well as our OB production. With these upgrades we have improved our production workflow for more automated solutions for sport coverage. We have also started using Piero also from Ross video for live sport analisis, that is more engaging for our viewers and has been very successful for our productions. As we mentioned we started using a Virtual Reality solution from Pixotope that has been used for sport and other  productions for more entertaining and engaging features for our viewers. We have these three graphics solutions together and the solution is a really upgraded production value and the audience loves it.

I’d like to know a bit more about the key elements of your studios and facilities. Have you recently acquired any significant equipment? Which manufacturers do you usually rely on?

The VR production has been a learning curve for us, but we feel now that we have found the perfect balance and these new changes are now part of our workflow. We went live with our VR studio in January last year, not making this easy for us, since this coverage was last year’s highest rated sport coverage. We had a lot of help and support from Pixotope and this process was very valuable for us since we have been improving the quality and we are getting more confidence with this new technology, and the audience are more engaged.

“One exciting project we’re focused on right now is replacing our archive system and associated media storage. It’s a major upgrade that will help us better manage and preserve our media assets”

Among the events RÚV has recently covered, could you share a specific success story you’re particularly proud of — one that stood out due to the challenges it involved?

One success story we’re really proud of is how we handled coverage of the eight volcanic eruptions in Iceland since 2023. These events really put our systems to the test, and we’ve had to make some serious upgrades to our infrastructure and processes to stay agile and get accurate news out quickly—across all our channels, whether that’s for digital radio and TV, our website, or FM broadcasts.

During these eruptions, we’ve seen our web traffic spike tenfold in just a few minutes. Thankfully, our cloud-based infrastructure has been key in helping us scale up fast, making sure our users have uninterrupted access to critical information.

We have live camera feeds running at active volcanic sites around the clock. When an eruption hits, we can instantly switch to those cameras and broadcast live footage within minutes. Plus, our reporters are equipped with portable IP-based transmission technology, so they can report directly from the eruption sites, even if they’re in remote or difficult locations.

Along the way, we’ve strengthened our disaster recovery plans to reflect this new reality, making sure we’re always ready for fast, flexible coverage whenever something happens. These eruptions have really shown how important resilience and flexibility are in what we do, and we’re proud of how our team and technology came together to serve the public in those critical moments.

“We have live camera feeds running at active volcanic sites around the clock. When an eruption hits, we can instantly switch to those cameras and broadcast live footage within minutes”

What would you say is the current state of 5G adoption in your workflows?

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. 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.

To what extent are you adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and process automation in your workflows? How do you see their influence in the near future?

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. 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.

“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”

What is your level of confidence in and adoption of cloud technologies compared to on-premise systems?

We’re confident in both cloud and on-premises technologies, and for us, it’s not about choosing one over the other. Instead, 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.

Being in Iceland adds a unique dimension, since there’s limited presence from global cloud providers here. 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.

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.

Cybersecurity is also a key part of our thinking. Whether systems are cloud-based or on-premises, we evaluate each one carefully and ensure safeguards are in place to protect both our operations and user data.

“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”

What is your position regarding OTT services?

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.