Adrian Pennington

With the spend on advertising dollars reaching fewer people brands are turning to branded entertainment and other content creation channels.

At IBC2026, Guy-Laurent Epstein, Executive Director, Marketing, UEFA, explored how he has optimised the organisation’s workflows for live sports to drive growth for UEFA national and club competitions, including the Euros and Champions League.

Although global broadcasters are accelerating their shift from satellite to IP, the industry seems to be entering a hybrid era rather than a clean break.

IBC showcased practical use cases of AI, including the management and mining of a massive news archive and the vocal resuscitation of a long-dead adventurer.

Brazil has become the first country to take next‑generation television from concept to consumer reality, with DTV+ now rolling out nationally, explained Carlos Cosme, Innovation Specialist, Globo.

Creators have become studios, studios have adopted creator logic, and audiences increasingly reward authenticity over scale. That was the clear message from executives at Meta, Sidemen Entertainment, Tubi, Snap and BBC Studios during a lively IBC panel on the creator economy.

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games is set to become the largest broadcast operation ever attempted. Speaking at IBC, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) CEO Yiannis Exarchos warned that traditional production models “simply will not do” as it prepares for unprecedented scale, complexity and audience expectations.

The number one creator in the world is MrBeast, right? Wrong. It is Blair Imani who tops the 100 Creators on the Planet, according to the Affinity Score unveiled exclusively at IBC.

Senior leaders from Australia’s ABC and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) outlined how AI is reshaping every editorial and operational workflows while insisting that human judgement remains central.

Netflix is expanding its media production suite (MPS) to third‑party tools, marking a significant shift in how the streamer works with technology vendors and production partners worldwide. The move, announced by Anna Mallett, VP Production for EMEA, comes as Netflix celebrates a decade since its global expansion and continues to scale production across more than 50 countries.