Interview

There’s no escaping the fact that AI is transforming many business verticals, and the media and entertainment industry is no exception. Experts agree that some applications are not yet mature, but there is much transformative opportunity, especially in general automation and AI enhanced metadata and subtitle generation. However, cloud and hybrid cloud economics are also a key theme, with increased cloud adoption driving broadcast workflows, as is the ongoing transition to IP.

From the necessities of streaming at scale and maximising monetisation, through IP adoption and of course AI, the M&E industry has never been more technologically innovative. A range of experts from Broadpeak, Amagi and Vizrt take the temperature of the discussions at NAB2025, with an overall focus on economics and rapidly maturing technologies.

Johannes Franken, Director of Digital at HBS sets out how immediacy is crucial to success - especially in social media promotion terms - and how embedding AI in the content workflow is helping to deliver faster, better content - albeit with human quality control.

Thomas Thomson, Senior Analyst, Video Technology at Omdia discusses the importance of trust in media, the tension between app-led and content-led strategies in recommendation discovery and the value of user data and the potential role of AI in delivering personalisation by default.

Almost unanimously, the industry experts at NAB agree that it is cloud that has really matured into a practical, everyday technology for the M&E industry. Whether as a hybrid setup with on-prem support to enhance flexibility, creating specific workflows in the cloud, or as a cost-saving strategy, cloud is here to stay.

Brijesh Yadav, Vice President and Global Head of Sales - Sports, Media & Entertainment at Tata Communications believes that it’s important to keep having positive conversations around AI and how it can help advance the industry.

Combining the flexibility of rapidly maturing cloud solutions with the immediacy and reliability of on prem is an increasingly popular choice, says Paddy Taylor, particularly around video acquisition. However, the wider industry needs to focus on improving education for the next generation of engineers and operators for these advanced technologies, he believes, as current education focuses on traditional live production roles rather than on efficiency and automation, which are crucial for the future.

While virtual production tools and increasingly potent AR solutions are revolutionising and democratising what is possible in live event coverage, Kemal also believes that industry education needs to be improved, especially around mid-career training rather than chasing the latest technology chimera.

With the industry pushing beyond the realms of traditional media and entertainment, where everyone is a content creator, Kathleen Barrett, CEO at Backlight has seen a growing demand for reliable and flexible media asset management solutions (MAMS).

AI is delivering real and transformative benefits, especially in the areas of speech-to-text for real-time subtitle generation and enriching metadata using larger language models. However, those benefits need to be weighed against the broad implications of AI on the industry and society, with concerns including job roles, intellectual property, data security, and ethical considerations.