IBC2025: Bitmovin unveils biggest concerns for streaming industry in Video Developer Report 2025/26

Bitmovin has released the 9th annual Video Developer Report 2025/26, offering an in-depth look at the evolving challenges and trends in the streaming industry. With insights from hundreds of video professionals worldwide, the report remains the most comprehensive benchmark of the state of video delivery, monetization, and technology adoption.

The Video Developer Report 2025/26 reveals that cost control is the number one concern for 38% of respondents, making it the single largest challenge facing video teams. Bandwidth, storage, and infrastructure optimization are the key cost areas under scrutiny as providers look to maximize ROI while expanding services.

Ad insertion follows closely behind at 37%, while maintaining consistent monitoring and analytics (31%) and ensuring reliable playback across all devices (31%) also rank high as persistent difficulties in today’s fragmented ecosystem.

The 2025/26 edition of the Video Developer Report highlights a near parity between AVOD (37%) and SVOD (36%), reflecting a maturing balance of monetization strategies. FAST channels are also gaining ground, with 26% of providers adopting them as cost-efficient tools to extend reach and complement subscription models.

Among advertising workflows, server-side ad insertion (SSAI) remains the dominant approach, used by 37% of providers.

AI has firmly moved beyond experimentation, with most providers now deploying it to achieve operational impact and measurable ROI. The Video Developer Report 2025/26 finds that the most common applications of AI include:
Accessibility improvements (46% using transcription and speech-to-text)
Personalization (35%)
Video tagging and categorization (35%)
Recommendations engines (33%)
Video quality optimization (29%)
Quality of experience (20%)

“As always, the report shows how technologies are maturing, which strategies are gaining traction, and which challenges persist,” says Stefan Lederer, CEO and Co-Founder, Bitmovin. “It’s clear from this year’s report that economic pressures are continuing to shape strategy across the industry, and while monetization workflows remain complex, the conversation has broadened to include efficiency gains across the streaming pipeline. The report findings underscore a market balancing growth ambition with the realities of tighter budgets, and the need to optimize workflows.”

The latest Bitmovin Video Developer Report 2025/26 Edition is now available HERE.