IAMT Industry Impact Briefing: MediaTech has outgrown broadcast

“MediaTech is moving beyond its own vertical into a capability. It’s the ability for the industry to move forward.” According to the executive, AI, cloud, data, and software‑defined workflows have opened entirely new markets. “These technologies enable our members to move into other verticals,” Williams said. “MediaTech is now used as an instrument to achieve business goals.”

Williams pointed to demand from non‑broadcast sectors: “We hear from CEOs of banks and healthcare companies saying: ‘Make me look like my non‑CNN.’ But they don’t want the complexity or cost of a big broadcast operation centre. They want to communicate and execute strategies across their own audiences, on different devices, with the quality that comes from broadcast craft.” 

Six months ago, the organisation rebranded from IABM, removing "Broadcast Manufacturers" from its name. This reflects the trend that broadcast is now a diminishing subset of vendor revenues.  

The numbers are decisive. “Over 40% of the MediaTech addressable market sits beyond the traditional broadcast vertical,” Williams noted. “Let’s not just look at pure media and broadcast as a vertical market, as we have done. Many members are already looking at corporates, healthcare, houses of worship, stadiums.” 

Broadcast remains central, she stressed – but it is no longer the whole picture. “We’re not leaving media and broadcast behind. But we’re working in parallel with those other market opportunities to deliver additional sources of revenue.” 

Williams emphasised that IAMT’s research is grounded in real‑world buyer behaviour. “Content, production, and distribution systems now need to be spun up and spun down in a cost-effective and easy way that doesn't require the breadth of broadcast engineers or engineering teams that we've been used to in the industry.

"The flexibility of plug-and-play interoperability with security is incredibly important. Such adaptability is key when it comes to designing a media stack for broadcast and even more important in non-broadcast markets because they want even simpler solutions to operate studios in-house.” 

The convergence of broadcast with AV is producing some unexpected tech alliances, noted Chris Evans, Senior Principal Analyst, IAMT. 

He added: “In 2026, concerns have become more concentrated around execution risk, fragmented supply and demand, weaker investment, lower margins, and uncertainty around legislation and public funding. Companies are now seeing real upside in AI‑enabled workflows, agile operating models, IP, and cloud.”