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prehensive approach is needed, including
a more thorough analysis of TCO that ac-
counts for all associated costs.”
While cloud adoption ofers flexibility, it
also requires careful cost management.
“The cloud conversation has matured
from hype to hard economics, with cus-
tomers seeking guidance through the
maze of storage costs, trafc expenses,
and performance needs,” said Jan Weign-
er, chief technology ofcer, Cinegy. “Ef-
ciency isn’t just a buzzword anymore; it’s
a survival strategy in an industry where
doing more with less has become the man-
date.”
Many organizations are finding that a hy-
brid approach provides the best balance.
“We’re tracking the emergence of hy-
brid approaches that blend on-premises
reliability with cloud flexibility – creating
balanced systems that optimize both per-
formance and costs,” said Weigner. “The
trend we’re most encouraged by is the
industry’s return to business case reality
over technology infatuation.”
Media companies are paying particular
attention to these ongoing costs.
“Increasingly, media businesses are
also more cognizant about ways to avoid
the heavy cloud egress fees that come
with frequently moving in and out of pub-
lic cloud environments,” said Rick Young,
senior vice president of global products,
LTN.
AI adoption moving from hype to
practical applications
As artificial intelligence continues infil-
trating the product pipeline, the focus has
shifted from theoretical possibilities to
practical applications that deliver measur-
able workflow improvements across the
entire media pipeline.
“The AI conversation is finally maturing
beyond hype to fixed-function applications
that solve specific workflow problems
with clear cost-benefit advantages,” said
Weigner.
Media organizations are implementing
AI strategically rather than as a blanket
solution.
“Given the high cost of AI models for
computer vision services, it’s essential for
companies to define automation strategies
that balance efciency with cost-efective-
ness,” said Blake Parrish, vice president of
product management, Telestream.
These targeted AI implementations are
already showing results in real-world pro-
duction environments.
“In 2024, it seemed that AI was dominat-
ing the industry, but as we are entering the
first quarter of 2025, AI is progressing and
actually providing some valuable working
solutions,” said Jane Sung, chief operating
ofcer, Cinedeck.
For example, the integration of AI into
quality control workflows is proving par-
ticularly valuable.
“Workflow optimization now focuses on
unifying siloed processes — for example,
integrating AI-driven diagnostics directly
into encoding pipelines to preemptively
flag quality issues or automate bandwidth
allocation,” said Anupama Anantharaman,
vice president of product management,
Interra Systems. “Predictive analytics are
helping teams prioritize fixes based on
viewer impact, while tools for real-time
metadata tagging streamline localization
and compliance checks.”
This focus on practical AI applications
extends beyond just production to audi-
ence engagement.
“Smarter workflows that deliver real re-
sults today will continue to drive the con-
versation at NAB 2025 - and AI is leading
the charge,” said Sam Kamel, chief execu-
tive ofcer, Bitcentral.
Remote production and
collaboration evolving
The pandemic accelerated remote pro-
duction adoption, and media organiza-
tions continue to refine these workflows
for long-term efciency.
“Remote production remains a key fo-
cus, as broadcasters continue to reduce
production costs by deploying technolo-
gies that minimize the need for large on-
site crews,” said Matthew Williams-Neale,
vice president of marketing, Appear. “This
is also important for sustainability as the
industry continues to reduce its environ-
mental footprint.”
These distributed workflows create new
challenges around asset management and
collaboration.
“The explosive growth in content reso-
lution and complexity is pushing tradition-
al file sharing infrastructure to its limits,”
said Ned Pyle, enterprise storage techni-
cal ofcer, Tuxera. “We’re seeing broad-
cast operations struggling with 4K/8K
workflows and virtual production that
demand real-time access to massive files
across distributed teams.”
Ensuring efcient collaboration across
these distributed environments requires
new approaches to project management.
“Post-production doesn’t have to be so
difcult. If we can encourage organiza-
tions to put the focus on the project, which
is the fundamental unit of post-production,
significant improvements to efciency, se-
curity, and turnaround become possible,”
said Derek Barrilleaux, chief executive of-
ficer, Projective.
Balancing innovation with
practicality
The tension between digital transforma-
tion and practical business needs contin-
ues to shape purchasing decisions in the
world of media and entertainment.
“We’re seeing a refreshing shift toward
evolution over revolution – where incre-
mental improvements delivering measur-
able benefits take precedence over flashy
but impractical innovations,” said Weigner.
“The growing recognition that operation-
al efciency directly impacts bottom-line
results is validating our long-standing ap-
proach to software-defined television.”
The industry is also seeking more adapt-
able solutions that adjust to evolving re-
quirements.
“Today’s media service providers need
to be able to scale operations, adapt ac-
cording to changing audience demands
and navigate often complex workflows
which span both cloud and hardware en-
vironments - all while keeping costs in
check,” said Williams-Neale.
This focus on practical solutions is
driving workflow automation and laying a
roadmap for the future.
“The industry is looking for ways to re-
duce complexity, automate manual tasks,
and increase the reliability of live video
workflows,” said Chris Clarke, chief reve-
nue ofcer and co-founder, Cerberus Tech.
The convergence of workflow efciency,
cost management and practical innovation
will shape discussions on the show floor
and point the way toward the broadcast
industry’s future.
Continued from previous page
The tension between
digital transformation
and practical business
needs continues to shape
purchasing decisions in
the world of media and
entertainment.
As broadcasters and media compa-
nies prepare to gather for the NAB Show
in Las Vegas this April, monetization has
emerged as a central theme in an industry
navigating profound transformation. The
annual trade show, scheduled for April 5-9,
2025, will spotlight new revenue genera-
tion approaches as viewing habits evolve
across platforms.
With traditional broadcast models fac-
ing disruption from streaming services
and changing consumer preferences, in-
dustry leaders are reimagining moneti-
zation strategies to maintain profitability
while meeting audience expectations.
This year’s NAB Show will explore how
companies balance subscription models,
advertising opportunities and hybrid ap-
proaches across increasingly fragmented
distribution channels.
The shifting monetization
landscape
The transformation in how audiences
consume content has created challenges
and opportunities for broadcasters and
streaming platforms. This evolution re-
quires completely rethinking how media
companies approach their business mod-
els.
“A fundamental shift in viewing habits
has led to a paradigm change in moneti-
zation,” said Steve Reynolds, chief exec-
utive ofcer of Imagine Communications.
“While
traditional
broadcast
remains
viable, the rise of linear streaming and
on-demand platforms has reshaped how
audiences consume content. This shift
has fragmented the audience, making it
increasingly challenging for advertisers to
reach consumers efectively.”
The industry is moving from viewing in-
ventory simply as ad slots toward a more
sophisticated approach that prioritizes au-
dience engagement across platforms.
“Instead of viewing inventory as a collec-
tion of ad slots, broadcasters must adopt
a new mindset — one that considers their
audience as their inventory,” Reynolds
said. “This shift empowers advertisers to
execute cross-platform orders efective-
ly, seamlessly blending linear and digital
strategies to reach the right viewers.”
Hybrid revenue models
gain traction
As traditional linear TV revenue wanes,
media companies increasingly embrace
multiple revenue streams to maintain
growth.
“The conversation around monetization
is being driven by the need for broadcast-
ers and content owners to adapt to chang-
ing viewer behaviors while maintaining
profitability,” said Chris Clarke, chief rev-
enue ofcer and co-founder of Cerberus
Tech. “The shift toward hybrid revenue
models — combining subscription, adver-
tising, and pay-per-view — is accelerating,
especially as traditional linear TV revenue
declines.”
Free ad-supported streaming television
(FAST) has been a significant growth area,
ofering viewers free content in exchange
for watching advertisements.
“Monetization will remain central to the
NAB conversation, particularly with the
accelerated adoption of free ad-support-
ed streaming television,” said Anupama
Anantharaman, vice president of product
management at Interra Systems. “Broad-
casters are prioritizing solutions that bal-
ance ad relevance with seamless viewer
retention, moving beyond basic insertion
tactics to contextual alignment.”
The success of FAST platforms depends
heavily on sophisticated advertising tech-
nology that maintains the viewing experi-
ence.
“Viewers increasingly accept ads as a
fair trade-of for free or lower-cost con-
tent, with streaming platforms and broad-
casters needing to fully explore the opti-
mization of their all-important advertising
strategy,” said Jacques Le Mancq, CEO of
Broadpeak. “Dynamic ad insertion is the
solution, delivering seamless, personal-
ized ads, encouraging viewer engagement
and ‘stickiness’.”
Le Mancq emphasized that efective ad
insertion requires comprehensive tech-
nical solutions: “But to achieve maximum
fill rates and drive monetization, DAI tech
has to reach far beyond simple insertion.
There’s meticulous content preparation
required; truly dynamic adaptation to each
Monetization strategies evolve as streaming
reshapes broadcasting, opens opportunities
Continued on next page
MONETIZATION
NAB PREVIEW