MediaTech Radar is a monthly newsletter authored by IABM’s Business Intelligence Unit. It focuses on a spotlight topic in MediaTech and reflects on a series of past, present and future business developments in the industry. In this edition, our spotlight topic is NAB Show 2025, which was attended by over 55,000 MediaTech industry stakeholders and enthusiasts. An overview of leading themes from the show and IABM’s expanded program of member engagement and business intelligence insights hosted at NAB Show 2025 are discussed below.
MediaTech Spotlight: NAB Show 2025
A spotlight topic in MediaTech.
Total registered attendees for NAB Show decreased by 9.8% year-on-year from 61,000 in 2024 to 55,000 in 2025. This reduction was notably influenced by geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainties. The Trump administration’s announcement on April 2, 2025 of new reciprocal tariffs coincided with the NAB Show as the introduction of a 10% baseline tariff on selected imports took effect on April 5. These developments contributed to concerns among MediaTech vendors and attendees, leading to discussions about the potential impact on the industry and influencing some individuals and companies to withdraw from the event at short notice.
While the “Liberation Day tariffs” were a surprise theme for the show, the latest advancements in the broadcast media and entertainment industry were the main focal point of NAB Show. Artificial intelligence and machine learning continued to be a key topic of interest for investment and technology road mapping at the show. This was supported by results from the NAB wave of the IABM MediaTech Industry Tracker survey conducted in anticipation of the show, and showcased at the IABM Industry Impact Briefing. While bold claims of revolutionary advancements achieved with AI are still met with caution by end-users, it is evident from demonstrations and case studies presented at the NAB show that AI tools are beginning to deliver tangible value in video production workflows. Vendors are now refining these tools with customer feedback as real world adoption moves from experimental use cases and pilot projects to more mature, scalable deployments.
The maturing adoption of cloud workflows has led to a shift in how brands communicate their application of cloud. While in 2022 at the tail end of the COVID-era, cloud workflows took centre stage at NAB, their overt promotion has since diminished. This is a signal that cloud compute and storage has been integrated into end-users’ technology stacks, though this is predominantly as hybrid cloud deployments. However, messaging around cloud solutions has not only receded, but also led to some brands pivoting to an active “anti-cloud” approach. It was more common to see concepts playing into end-user concerns about surprise costs and unpredictable billing which have become associated with cloud compute for video production. This implicit “anti-cloud” messaging has been used to promote hardware and perpetual licence software as more reliable product choices for end-users to provide greater cost certainty and leverage current cloud repatriation initiatives.
Despite the presence of this somewhat divisive evolution in the marketing of MediaTech products, the vision and framework for more dynamic and agile workflows was set out by the formation of the Media eXchange Layer project (MXL) as detailed further below in the MediaTech Watchlist section of this newsletter.
To complement the NAB Show exhibition and deliver on IABM’s mission to connect, support and inform our industry, IABM hosted an expanded program of engagements throughout NAB show. This centred around five important themes: new revenue generation, business transformation, sustainability, democratization of MediaTech, and successful buyer/vendor partnerships. Following an overwhelmingly positive response from the IABM membership, we were able to place a total of 68 guest speakers into opportunities to showcase their knowledge and insights across business intelligence and member engagement events, as well as recording a total of 41 IABM TV interviews. You can dig deeper into the key technology and business trends shaping conversation at NAB Show by watching IABM TV on demand.
MediaTech Watchlist: Ateliere, Grass Valley, Linux Foundation, EBU, NABA, and others.
A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.
- Grass Valley announced the promotion of Jon Wilson to Chief Executive Officer during the brand’s GV Forum event that coincides with NAB Show. Owner, and former CEO, Louis Hernandez Jr. detailed how the leadership transition marks the culmination of a strategic plan put in place when Wilson was brought into the Grass Valley leadership team in 2023 as President and Chief Operating Officer. Hernandez Jr. will continue to support the business as owner and Executive Chairman. Wilson shared more details about his appointment and future vision for the company in conversation with IABM TV.
- 2025 global box office estimates have been revised upwards of $34b following the success of Chinese animation film, Ne Zha 2. The film, produced by Light Chaser Animation Studios, currently stands as the highest grossing animated film of all time and ranks as the fifth highest grossing film worldwide, outranking Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As the animation’s box office total surpassed $2b, it motivated an update to Gower Street Analytics’ box office full year forecasts for 2025 ahead of CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
- The Linux Foundation in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA), announced the formation of the Media eXchange Layer Project (MXL). The open-source software will enable interoperable software to be deployed in virtualized and containerized production environments. The project builds on the EBU’s Dynamic Media Facility Reference Architecture to establish an open framework for real-time media exchange. François Legrand, Senior Director Engineering, CBC/Radio-Canada, one of the media companies participating in the initiative, stated “Software-driven broadcast production is the future, and real-time media exchange is a critical piece of this evolution. The MXL Project is a pivotal step toward an open, interoperable ecosystem that allows broadcasters to maximize efficiency while reducing infrastructure complexity.”
- Ateliere announces leadership transition as David Bortis is appointed interim CEO as Dan Goman steps down. Bortis has been a shareholder in the company working with the company for a decade and commented on his commitment to supporting the brand’s end-users: “By focusing closely on our customers’ needs, we’re creating a future with meaningful and lasting impact. We will continue to provide the innovative and sustainable M&E solutions that our customers have come to expect.”
- Rakuten TV adds 50 FAST Channels to TCL smart TVs. The streaming platform will deliver a mix of Rakuten’s owned and operated channels as well as selected third party channels across multiple genres to TCL Channel, the free streaming service included with TCL smart TVs. Sidharth Jayant, Chief Product Officer at Rakuten TV commented, “today we begin distributing our strong FAST Channels offering with TCL and also open the door for third party content owners to partner with us and easily deploy their FAST Channels while maximising their monetisation potential.”
- Production and distribution multinational Fremantle has launched a standalone production label, Imaginae Studios, to incubate AI driven content creation. Outlining the vision for Imaginae Studios, Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s Group Chief Operating Officer and CEO Europe, stressed the brand’s intent to retain human input alongside AI tools: “the mission of Imaginae Studios will be exactly that – to serve as a bridge between extraordinary human creativity and cutting-edge technology, fostering a creative sanctuary where innovation meets experimentation. We believe that behind every powerful AI tool, there must be a brilliant creative mind guiding its potential.”
- Blackmagic has paused plans to build a new factory in Dallas, Texas. The decision illustrates the complex impact of the new US tariff announcements on vendors’ supply chains. Patrick Hussey, Communications Lead, Blackmagic Design explained that though manufacturing would be based on parts sourced from US companies, they in turn will be affected independently based on their own components’ origin. He highlighted the present concern that “If we proceed with the US factory, we’d incur tariffs on those parts, increasing costs and negating the savings we anticipated.”
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IABM Business Intelligence Unit
