From a decisive move towards centralised production to continued growth in the use of robotics and AI- and ML-based tools, 2026 looks set to be the year that emerging technologies will prove their worth in real-world scenarios. Here, industry leaders share how they expect the coming year to develop, and the trends and technologies they see having the biggest impact.
The next great leap in live sports production may not come from another layer of capability, but from making existing capability largely invisible. Not in the sense of magic, but in the sense of thoughtful design to simplify complexity and liberate creativity. Tools that anticipate what operators are trying to achieve instead of forcing them through long sequences of steps. Systems that surface only what matters for the current role and current moment. Automation that quietly handles the mundane so humans can stay with the meaningful.
Tim Banks, CRO, Grass Valley
As we enter 2026, the industry is settling into a new baseline. Remote production will no longer be something broadcasters “try”, it will be an assumption. Managed services will no longer be viewed as external support, they will be embedded extensions of a rights-holder’s creative and technical capability. The organisations that thrive will be those that embrace this interconnected approach.
Eamonn Curtin, Gravity Media, chief commercial officer
One of the clearest shifts in 2026 in our opinion will be a more decisive move towards centralised production. This is not merely a cost-saving exercise or a full migration into cloud; it is a hybrid evolution where sports, especially smaller or mid-tier leagues, realise the efficiencies of centralising their production infrastructure. This shift is being driven by practicality: travel, staffing and logistics have become expensive and unpredictable to scale using traditional OB models.
Francis Williams, technical commercial director (media) EMEA, Diversified
If 2025 was about establishing what’s possible, 2026 will be about proving it at scale. The calendar ahead is dense with major tournaments and overlapping events. Production teams will face the same expectations for quality and storytelling, but with tighter schedules and finite resources.
This is where robotics and automation will face their real test. The challenge isn’t whether the technology works – it does – but whether it can deliver consistently across different environments and budgets. Infrastructure remains uneven: while many venues have upgraded fibre networks and power capacity, others still rely on hybrid setups. For broadcasters, that means flexibility will be key.
Benoit Dentan, VP T-Motion Robotics Solution, a division of EVS Broadcast Equipment
The sports production industry has a strong appetite for fully embracing hyper-targeted monetisation of content. This is a natural result of cloud flexibility and will have the biggest impact on sports broadcasting. The ability to spin up custom workflows to suit specific events as small as a pickleball tournament to as big as the Olympics will lead to an explosion of tailored content streams, personalised advertising, and the proliferation of niche direct-to-consumer offerings.
Looking ahead, I predict that by the end of 2026, we will not only be able to point to real Dynamic Media Facilities but measure just how much money was saved, and more importantly, how much revenue was captured by being able to produce at quality any kinds of sporting events.
Francesco Scartozzi, VP sales & business development, Matrox Video
Looking ahead to 2026, artificial intelligence and machine learning are expected to play a growing, though still carefully controlled, role in broadcast audio. With strong datasets, AI can make highly accurate decisions; with more limited data, it can still offer helpful suggestions or pre-selections that reduce operator workload. As voice-generation technologies advance, the industry will also need to address questions around vocal likeness and intellectual property.
Meanwhile, infrastructure-level innovations such as Direct Memory Access (DMA) and Remote DMA may eventually allow audio mixers to grow beyond hardware boundaries and process their channels and buses distributed across multiple servers – enabling new kinds of scalability for major sporting events.
Roger Heiniger, senior product manager audio, Riedel Communications
In 2026, strategic partnerships will become essential. Broadcasters and service providers must collaborate with best-in-class technology partners to ensure their offering is robust, scalable and future-proof. This isn’t about vendor lists, it’s about ecosystems. The winners will be those who curate partnerships that empower customers to thrive.
Deidre Joubert, head of market development, Telstra Broadcast Services
Hybrid trucks and Remote Operation Centres (ROCs) are carving a new era for outside broadcast operations creating flexible paradigms where IP cores can sit onsite at a venue, on the edge, or in the cloud, and control surfaces can exist anywhere. By tapping into a truck’s full potential from a remote location, remote units are no longer solely responsible for the success or failure of a live broadcast, and they don’t need to be fully staffed. They’re simply an additional resource on a broadcaster’s extended network.
Henry Goodman, Calrec, director of product management
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.
Guillaume Arthuis, founder & managing director, BBright
The biggest shift coming in 2026 isn’t technological, it’s philosophical. Broadcasters need to stop thinking about ‘viewers’ and start thinking about ‘participants’. That means designing experiences where fan behaviour actually matters, where engagement drives personalised outcomes, and where the line between watching and playing becomes deliberately blurred.
Miheer Walavalkar, CEO & co-founder, LiveLike
