IBC Accelerators: OBS, BT, and ITV to pioneer AI & 5G innovations in sports broadcasting

A series of 12 Quickfire Pitches were given by the shortlisted Accelerator Project Challenges at BBC Broadcasting House, before they were set the challenge of finding potential project partners

Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), the BBC, YLE, BT Media & Broadcast and ITV are among the companies collaborating on first-time innovation projects using AI and 5G technologies focused on sports production and broadcasting as part of the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme.

IBC has announced the eight Accelerator projects and one Special Incubator project that have been selected to go forward as part of its 2025 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme.

The programme provides an innovation framework for fast-tracking solutions that address real-world industry challenges with collaboration across the global media, entertainment and technology community.

Pitched by media organisations at the Accelerator Kickstart Day event in the BBC’s Radio Theatre last month, the projects are now beginning the development of solutions that will be showcased at IBC2025 as proof of concepts (POCs).

“We saw an overwhelming response to the Kickstart Day event this year featuring a series of compelling innovation pitches reflecting some of the most important challenges for the media and entertainment tech sector today,” said Jo Mayer, IBC’s Head of Marketing.

“We are thrilled to announce the projects selected to go forward and can’t wait to see their showcases and demonstrations at IBC in September.”

The headline sponsor of the 2025 programme is Google Cloud, and the associate sponsors are AMD and HP. For the 2025 cycle, the eight Accelerator projects selected for development, plus the Special Incubator project (which builds on innovative technologies established by projects in previous years) are:

A Framework for Generative AI – Proposed by RAI, Globo and Yle This creative Accelerator will aim to develop and explore a Generative AI Framework for broadcasters to rapidly create diverse media content, from scripts to animations and dynamic ads, streamlining workflows and enhancing audience engagement through practical AI integration.

AI Assistance Agents in Live Production Proposed by ITN, BBC, Cuez and Google: As the media industry goes through rapid transformation to embrace AI advances, this project aims to revolutionize live production and newsroom efficiency by exploring AI-powered assistants that seamlessly integrate with control room workflows, enabling operators to command and automate with natural language for enhanced speed, accuracy, and confidence.

Ultra Low Latency Live Streaming at Scale Proposed by Comcast and BT Media & Broadcast: This project seeks to develop a truly scalable architecture to deliver TV to millions of consumers over the internet with the same latency, stability and channel change performance they are accustomed to.

Stamping Your Content (C2PA Provenance) Proposed by BBC, ITN and Media Cluster Norway: Building on the success of last year’s Design Your Weapons in the Fight Against Disinformation Accelerator, this project aims to create an open-source tool to stamp news and other content at the point of publication and a consumer-facing decoder to accelerate Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) uptake.

Conquering the Air (Waves): Private 5G from Land to Sea to Sky Proposed by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), University of Strathclyde/ Neutral Wireless and Haivision: This project looks to take Private 5G to the skies – unlocking new creative possibilities by harnessing dynamic, mobile connectivity for broadcasters to bring audiences closer to the action while also enhancing athlete safety and event coverage.

Master Control Cloud Proposed by BBC, SVT, and BT Media & Broadcast: This project proposes a cloud-based system for routing, monitoring and processing live media streams incorporating traditional Master Control Room functionality and includes an exploration of web technologies as potential alternatives to conventional broadcast talkback systems.

Ecoflow II Proposed by ITV and EBU: Building on the success of the 2024 accelerator, ECOFLOW II proposes creating a digital twin to simulate streaming pipelines and their energy consumption, directly engaging platform teams to develop actionable business cases for sustainability and exploring innovations in energy impact visualisation and AI-driven optimisations to overcome the industry’s lack of visibility and accountability in energy usage.

Multi-Vendor Software Live Media Exchange Proposed by EBU, BBC & Appear: This project explores a new approach to Live Media Exchange to overcome the limitations of current media exchange protocols, collaborating with the EBU Dynamic Media Facility team to test solutions that enhance performance, sustainability, and automation while eliminating proprietary lock-ins, and enabling broadcasters to fully leverage modern data centre infrastructure and network capabilities identified by last year’s Connect & Produce Anywhere (CAPA) Accelerator.

IBC Incubator 2025: Changing the Game Again Proposed by Verizon Business and AMD and Xansr Media: Building on the successful POC from the 2024 ‘AI Media Production Labs’, this exciting, new IBC Incubator will laser-focus on real-time, AI-driven personalized sports experiences, delivering custom highlight reels and data with interactive features like virtual companions, dynamic camera angles, and localized content, revolutionizing fan engagement.

The IBC Accelerator Programme is an initiative that brings together leading industry buyers of media technology (Champions) with vendors, suppliers and developers (Participants) from across the world, in a project-based, accelerated environment for collaborative innovation. The projects develop solutions to common challenges identified by the Champions within a six-month time frame.

The Accelerator Programme has seen more than 44 projects delivered by over 300 organisations in the last six years. More than 80 Champions, Participants and Academic Partners took part in the programme in 2024, including:

Champions included: Al Jazeera Media Network, Associated Press, BBC, BNNVARA, BT Media & Broadcast, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC/Radio Canada), CBS News & Stations, Channel 4, Comcast, Entertainment Technology Centre (ETC) of USC, EO, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Fraunhofer, Globo, IMG, Institute of Engineering (IET), ITN, ITV, Media Cluster Norway, Music Venue Trust, Paramount Global, Reuters, RTL Group, Sky Sports, SMPTE Solent University, SVT, The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, TRANSMIXR, University of Applied Sciences & Arts, University of Kent, University of Strathclyde, Verizon Business, Vodafone,  XReco, Yle, Zwart and 2G Digital

Participants included: Accedo, Ateme, Eviden, Bitmovin, Castlabs, Cognizant, Cuepilot, d&b solutions, dB Broadcast, DIMPACT, EIDR​, Eluvio, Erizos.TV, EZDRM, Google Cloud, HAND, HumansNotRobots, LAMA, Loopic, Magnify, Nagra, Neutral Wireless, Norsk, NxtEdition, OpenOrigins, PlanIXLabs, Pluxbox, Quanteec, Respeecher, RKG Group, SalsaSound, Singular.live, Somersault, Spectral Compute, SPXGraphics, Techex TheScanTruck, Tinkerlist, Truemedia, TSL, Videntifier, Videoclarity, VizRT, WaveSeven, WildCapture, XansrSoftware, Zixi and more.

• IBC2025 will take place 12-15 September at the RAI Amsterdam