Content Everywhere at IBC2024: AI comes to the fore

So what were some of the key themes under discussion in Halls 4, 5 and 14? Last year, Jon Dahl, CEO of Mux, suggested that artificial intelligence was not at the show “in a big way” but predicted it would be more present in 2024. And how right he proved to be, not least owing to the new AI Tech Zone that showcased practical applications ranging from automated video editing and music-audio separation to content provenance tracking and fast and secure cloud storage. 

However, views about AI progress and applications to date are somewhat mixed. Below, Content Everywhere companies highlight what they see as some of the most promising industry developments at the show, while calling out areas where they think the industry has room for improvement, including in its approach to AI.

AI: the good, and the less than good

According to Tom Dvorak, co-founder and chief commercial officer at XroadMedia, increased interest in prioritising user experiences with personalisation, from the UI to notifications and ad experiences, really stood out for him and his team this year.

“This topic dominated our conversations with partners and clients and was a constant throughout the whole event,” Dvorak says.

However, for Dvorak and others, AI was a particularly dominant theme this year and he notes that it was “refreshing to hear that people understood that AI isn’t here to replace human teams but to aid cumbersome, repetitive processes”.

“For example, it is applied in metadata enrichment processes, creating emotive and relatable row titles and for natural language search. It was evident that there is a clear focus on improving efficiency as well as utilising AI to help service providers scale their operations with less effort,” he says.

Lelde Ardava, sales and account manager at Veset, agrees that the biggest trend this year “was without a doubt AI, ML and innovation, which could be seen in abundance in every hall and at every booth throughout the show”.

Matthew Wilkinson, CEO of Magine Pro, also notes that with tighter budgets, “innovation is increasingly focused on automation and optimising workflows across the user lifecycle subscriber management journey. This includes AI/ML-driven solutions that enhance revenue retention at every step. In the media space, AI/ML is also pushing boundaries in audio and subtitle generation, enabling media and entertainment companies to expand their market reach while meeting local accessibility requirements”.

At the same time, Ardava says it would have been interesting to see more creative innovations and applications of new technologies besides AI and ML. “AI is becoming somewhat of a buzzword, and while many exhibitors are using the concept of AI to promote their products, it would be good to see more practical applications of the technology from different perspectives,” she comments.

Bart Lozia, CEO of Spyrosoft BSG, remarks that while there was a “lot of hype around AI, we found that much of the discussion was still somewhat theoretical”.

“The technology is undoubtedly promising, but there was a noticeable gap between the hype and concrete, practical solutions that companies could easily implement. AI was often presented in generalities, focusing on its future potential rather than showing fully realised, business-ready applications. This left us expecting to see more clarity on how AI could really transform daily operations or content production pipelines soon,” Lozia says.

Lozia had hoped to see practical use cases or case studies “demonstrating the measurable impact of AI, especially in areas such as content monetisation, personalised experiences or workflow automation. We believe there is still a lot of untapped potential and look forward to seeing more tangible AI-based solutions at future editions of IBC”.

Philippe Petitpont, co-founder and CEO of Moments Lab, has a similar view, noting that while the media and entertainment industry has embraced AI, “with virtually every provider now offering some form of AI-powered solution”, there is “still a noticeable gap when it comes to providing customers with the tools they need to effectively evaluate and compare AI models”.

“At IBC, I observed a general lack of transparency from vendors regarding the performance of AI systems, the importance of benchmarks, and considerations around data sharing and privacy. Given the immense value of media asset libraries, broadcasters need assurance that their content will not be used to train AI models without their explicit consent,” he says.

Petitpont’s view is that the industry should now focus on educating broadcasters and media companies on how to evaluate AI for specific workflows, understanding cost at scale, ensuring reliability, safeguarding data privacy, and addressing generative AI inaccuracies such as “hallucinations”.

“My main concern was seeing many AI-powered features, such as semantic search, being showcased but not yet fully tested in real-word production settings. Rushing to market with such features and making big announcements prematurely may undermine trust within the industry. Thoughtful implementation and transparency will be key moving forward,” he adds.

Ajey Anand, CEO of Norigin Media, concludes that while the “good news is that AI is becoming commonplace, and we can see every company using tools to be productive and engaging from design to development, the lack of consumer-centric case studies was the disappointment for me. I saw few cases where AI was being used based on consumer actions and its related impact on product development or roadmaps”.

He adds: “While search and recommendations have been a hype for many years, with AI, I was hoping that we will see some unique monetisation case-studies, which will hopefully have to wait another year for IBC2025 to showcase such successes.”

Reasons to be cheerful…

Aside from AI, Veset’s Ardava says other new technologies and new projects also caught her eye and will be among the things to watch for in 2025.

“The rise of entirely cloud-based platforms and playout are just a few of the trends we saw making a levelled-up debut at the show this year. We saw a huge interest in our cloud-based playout, broadcasters are seeking new ways for an cost effective and easy scalable solution for pop-up channels, disaster recovery and main channels,” Ardava observes.

James Cranfield, global VP sales and partnerships at Cinedeck, says the biggest highlight for him was “seeing how more companies are focusing on seamless integration to provide full end-to-end workflows”.

“This trend is helping the industry achieve its production goals more efficiently. For Cinedeck, our recent integrations have played a crucial role in enabling tighter production timelines, while also supporting the industry in delivering quality content on limited budgets,” he comments.

John Gleeson, COO of Storj, says the company found that there was rising awareness and interest in the sustainability aspects of solutions being showcased at the event, “which we appreciated. We are passionate about technologies that are simultaneously smart for business and beneficial for environmental sustainability. It was wonderful to see this becoming more of a priority for decision-makers in media and entertainment”.

Gleeson adds that he found attendees to be very receptive to more education around reducing the carbon impact of data, “based on engagements at our booth, our participation in the MTSS (Media Tech Sustainability Series) Corporate Star Awards on behalf of the DSA (Digital Sustainability Alliance), and our speaking session which focused on how distributed tech is driving a sustainable revolution”.

According to Reinhard Grandl, EVP of product at Bitmovin, “it’s been hugely exciting this year to see the latest developments around live sports broadcasting and real-time streaming. There’s some truly remarkable technology out there that really pushes the limits of what’s possible in terms of low latency streaming. The innovative technology on show at IBC demonstrates that live sports can be streamed with a latency that is comparable to traditional broadcast. This is a major step forward for the industry”.

Mark Strachan, chief product officer at Telstra Broadcast Services, meanwhile, welcomes that media organisations “are starting to look at the total cost of ownership, where the end-to-end media supply chain and logistics are being examined together”.

Martin Sebelius, CEO at Accedo Video Solutions, adds that this year’s IBC “was a reflection of the macro-economic situation and the industry challenges. Many presented partnerships and solutions were geared towards cost efficiency, and so were conversations on the showroom floor. Video service providers need providers to enable cost savings, technology and operational efficiencies while still evolving the video service”.

For Sergio Ammirata, founder and chief scientist at SipRadius, the growing awareness of security was his highlight of the show.

“This focus made our launch of SipVault particularly timely, as it provides a secure, self-hosted solution for real-time communication in production environments. It was great to see this awareness translating into a real willingness to explore and adopt more secure intercom tools for broadcast teams,” he says.

David Brown, CTO of 24i, also picks out the business potential in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) broadcaster marketplace, which he believes is showing promising signs of vitality.

“We also saw potential in new platforms. There were a lot of discussions around the adoption of Android-powered devices in automotive entertainment displays, which can support a range of applications. There was also buzz around new competition around the Sky Glass business model. Sky has proven how a pay-TV operator can own the entire entertainment experience and have a direct relationship with customers so others are looking to get into the game,” Brown says.

Moments Lab’s Petitpont further observes that a “significant number of production companies and studios roamed the IBC show floor, marking a noticeable increase in presence compared to previous years. The focus for the entire industry right now is on producing content faster and repurposing existing footage more efficiently. As a result, companies are exploring every available solution that can help them scale their projects effectively”.

He adds: “Production houses, constantly aiming to optimise costs, are showing a strong willingness to innovate. Conversations at IBC revealed that they’re ready to take risks and adopt new technologies like multimodal and generative AI. Interestingly, they’re doing this at a faster pace than broadcasters.”

Overall, Jean-Christophe Perier, chief marketing officer at Globecast, found that during IBC, “the energy and enthusiasm in the industry is also greater than we expected. Last year, the industry was under pressure, and it seemed like people were stuck and didn’t know what to do. This year, although the industry is still under pressure, people are moving. We have had some great meetings with customers and prospects who are ready to try things”.

…but room for improvement

Aside from the more positive experiences, Content Everywhere companies also point to areas where they believe more could be done to drive growth and innovation.

For instance, Storj’s Gleeson comments that it found some vendors “continuing to claim that they have a complete solution”.

“We believe there is more power in collaboration and partnerships and we showcased over a dozen of our technology alliance partners’ solutions in our booth …There are too many use cases to say one size fits all. Buyers need to look for technology where there is a strong partner ecosystem to form a complete solution for their specific use case,” Gleeson says.

Paul Davies, head of marketing at Yospace, observes that industry conversation in general is “struggling to take the challenges of scaling addressable advertising seriously. Advertising is set to be the most fundamental source of revenue for the industry as TV moves to all-IP delivery, and issues such as ad delivery, fill-rates, and transparency in measurement should really be centre stage”.

Sebelius from Accedo Video Solutions remarks that he can’t help but think that “our industry should have come further by now in removing one of the key obstacles to an excellent user experience. It’s disappointing that despite advanced technology, most video services lack a smooth and targeted cross-platform content discovery”.

Bitmovin’s Grandl also notes that while he’s seen a lot of “great technology” over the years at IBC, he feels a “little bit disappointed that some of it still hasn’t made it to production. Sometimes I wish the industry would move just a little bit faster, adopting the best new technology that delivers a better quality user experience, and that advances the industry further and further”.

Ammirata from SipRadius adds that one area his company felt was overlooked “was the discussion around self-hosting in the cloud conversation. While cloud solutions were a major focus, there was less emphasis on the option for organisations to take control of their data by self-hosting. We see a lot of potential in hybrid models where companies can harness the benefits of cloud technology while managing their data and systems in-house. More awareness and conversation around this could really empower teams to have greater control and security over their workflows”.

Magine Pro’s Wilkinson also reflects that the market remains somewhat stagnant, “largely due to ongoing macroeconomic pressures that are driving companies to keep costs tightly controlled.

“As a result, there is an increasing focus on optimising existing products and features, with CFOs prioritising core business over expansion. Unlike the pre-pandemic era, when cheap capital fuelled higher spending, today’s market is far more cautious. On the vendor side, profitability pressures persist, and we may see further market shakeouts over the next two to three years,” he says.

Lack of diversity is highlighted by Telstra’s Strachan, meanwhile. He observes that the media industry “is still a very male-dominated industry with more work needed to create change”.

Stuart Huke, head of product solutions at 24i, also picked up on a continued sense of uncertainty in the job market.

“Many attendees expressed concerns about the difficulty in finding work, reflecting broader industry challenges. This sentiment overshadowed some of the event’s positive aspects, highlighting the need for new perspectives and more innovation,” Huke says.