Blackbird wins IABM Sustainability Company of the Year Award

Blackbird has been named Environmental Sustainability Company of the Year 2021 at the IABM BaM Awards. The awards recognise outstanding technological innovations that deliver real business and creative benefits.

Awarding Blackbird Environmental Sustainability Company of the Year, IABM said: “Like every industry, broadcast and media is accountable for its effects on our beautiful but fragile planet. But, as companies increasingly label themselves ‘eco-friendly’, it can be tricky to identify the companies that are truly eco-friendly and those that are merely jumping on the environmental bandwagon for ‘green marketing’. This award recognises companies that have made real strides in reducing their carbon footprint. 

“Blackbird is spearheading the critical issue of sustainability within the broadcast media and video industry. Blackbird’s cloud native video production technology has been independently found to generate up to 91% less CO2 at source than on-prem and cloud-based workflows because it requires no special hardware or virtual machine, runs on any laptop, uses only 2Mbps bandwidth and, of course, eliminates travel to venues. Blackbird is delivering real, tangible environmental benefits to both its customers and the wider world.”

Blackbird CEO Ian McDonough (pictured) said: “What an honour to be the inaugural winners of the IABM Environmental Sustainability Award. We value this award so highly because it embodies our own values. The core Blackbird proposition is reduction of carbon at source without impact on performance or quality. Video shouldn’t cost the Earth but nor should it need to compromise.”

Blackbird is leading the campaign to dramatically reduce carbon emissions within the video production industry. Earlier this year, the company launched a carbon awareness study titled ‘Video Shouldn’t Cost the Earth’, in collaboration with environmental management consultancy Green Element. In July, Blackbird was awarded the London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark in recognition of its work in contributing to the green economy – just 5% of UK listed companies have been given this award.