By Guillaume Arthuis, founder & managing director, BBright.
For more than a decade, broadcasters and production engineers have discussed, and debated, the transition to full IP infrastructures. Standards such as SMPTE ST 2110 and protocols like SRT have been widely promoted, but for many years the move away from SDI remained partial, cautious and operationally complex.
2025 marked a shift. Not because the technology suddenly matured, but because operational experience, standardisation and ecosystem support finally converged. We now have production environments, cloud infrastructures and contribution networks running reliably at scale using IP as the primary layer.
Based on our work with tier 1 broadcasters, systems integrators and technology manufacturers worldwide, we believe 2026 will be the first year where IP delivers not just replacement value, but genuine transformation. Below are three key trends to watch.
- ST 2110 enters its post-SDI phase: A workflow platform, not just a transport standard
ST 2110 adoption is no longer the story, the evolution of how it will be used is. Beyond video, audio and ANC, the 2110 ecosystem expanded meaningfully in 2025: ST 2110-41 for synchronised metadata (dynamic HDR signalling in production pipelines, native support for immersive audio via S-ADM) and ST 2110-43 for carriage of TTML subtitles. These are not incremental improvements. They enable workflows that were extremely difficult or impossible in SDI. Examples include:
Immersive live audio at scale: S-ADM can now be transported natively within ST 2110-41, enabling live production with Dolby Atmos, AC-4, Fraunhofer MPEG-H, or other NGA formats without complex workarounds. Dynamic metadata sequencing replaces the need for multiple static mixes.
Unified global subtitling: Historically, subtitling required separate formats per region (608/708 in North America, OP47 in Europe, others in Asia). TTML via ST 2110-43 means one subtitling workflow can now feed all territories, simplifying world feed production and cloud playout.
Metadata-driven live workflows: The open nature of ST 2110-41 allows synchronised metadata streams to trigger or enrich downstream workflows. Future applications include dynamic ad insertion during live events, event-based control for on-air graphics, real-time content personalisation, or automated language/localisation triggers.
The industry has reached the point where adoption is assumed, but consistency remains a challenge. The focus now shifts from early adoption to reliability, maintainability and integration.
- IP contribution reaches maturity: SRT becomes default, RIST re-enters the conversation
While ST 2110 has reshaped facility workflows, SRT has reshaped contribution. By late 2025, SRT had become the de facto replacement for satellite and private network transport in many live sports environments. The reason is not perfection, but practicality:
- It is supported across all major encoders/decoders
- It tolerates unpredictable internet conditions
- It enables redundancy without specialised infrastructure
- It provides useful telemetry and error reporting
2026 will mark the transition from adoption to engineering maturity. Expect to see:
Bonded redundancy as standard practice: Multi-ISP, multi-path contribution designs with passive or active bonding will become widely deployed, particularly for mobile or at-home production workflows.
Operationalising SRT: Network operations centres are now requesting stream-level KPIs, active QoS monitoring, automated failover between independent sources and preventive alerting ahead of service loss. As resilience and visibility improve, SRT will increasingly support primary feeds in tier 1 sports productions, not just backup or digital feeds.
RIST re-emerges in enterprise and cloud deployments: Although it appeared to lose momentum, RIST is now being evaluated again for large-scale cloud and inter-facility contributions. Its strengths include well-structured security support, built-in monitoring mechanisms, greater architectural control and alignment with broadcast-engineered workflows. Being an open VSF-backed standard, it paves the way for significant innovation.
A likely outcome for 2026: RIST for engineered core contribution networks, SRT for field-based and flexible deployments.
- Beyond IP transport: The rise of media abstraction layers and dynamic infrastructure
Once both live production and contribution are IP-based, the next challenge emerges: How do we manage orchestration, scalability, vendor interoperability and cost across on-prem, virtualised and cloud environments?
One emerging answer is the Media eXchange Layer (MXL). While its implementation and business model are not yet settled, MXL seeks to provide a unified abstraction layer for media functions, vendor-agnostic interoperability, simplified cloud or hybrid deployments, and dynamic routing of media processing tasks.
For broadcasters and service providers, this could reduce integration complexity and provide more flexibility when mixing on-prem, cloud and third-party components. MXL is not a solution for 2026, but it is one of the major important developments to watch. Early testing is underway in cloud playout and remote production environments. Other initiatives, including the BBC’s TAMS, should also be closely monitored.
2026 will be about exploiting maturity, not chasing transition
IP is no longer the future; it is the present. The foundational work is finished and the technology is proven. The key shift in 2026 will be moving from ‘Can we do this in IP?’ to ‘How far can we push what IP enables?’. For broadcasters, leagues and media companies, especially in live sports, 2026 is no longer about replacing SDI or satellite. It is about unlocking the creative and commercial opportunities that IP finally makes possible.
