TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2026 NAB Show?
Malik Khan: At NAB Show, a key focus will be the impact of ongoing C-band spectrum repurposing on media distribution. With U.S. federal auctions set to reallocate up to 180 MHz of spectrum for 5G by 2027, pressure on networks, broadcasters and rightsholders is intensifying, prompting them to reassess how they deliver high-value content at scale. This is accelerating conversations around shifting to alternative infrastructure that can provide the highest certainty around reliability, performance, visibility, and cost.
Live production, in particular sports production, is being reshaped by the need to scale efficiently while supporting more-tailored event creation and distribution. As sports leagues and rightsholders revisit longstanding delivery models in light of regulatory and commercial pressures, there is growing momentum behind workflows that allow content to be adapted for different audiences and platforms without increasing complexity and cost. This shift is driving greater alignment between production, localization, and distribution, with IP and cloud technologies playing a central role in enabling more flexible operations.
TVT: What will be your most important product news?
MK: Industry dynamics are accelerating the need for change, particularly as upcoming spectrum auctions place additional pressure on satellite capacity. In response, LTN is strengthening network reliability and performance, increasing the depth and transparency of content and network visibility, faster deployment with full-market reach, and improved economics to support high-value content delivery across a growing number of channels and platforms.
LTN is introducing enhancements to its global IP video network designed to support event and full-time channel distribution with 99.9999% reliability. These updates build on LTN’s industry-leading experience supporting large-scale deployments for networks, station groups, programmers, and sports broadcasters. In addition to the industry’s highest reliability guarantee, LTN’s innovation focuses on increasing full-market reach to 100% of legacy and digital platforms, further reducing migration time from satellite to IP distribution to a few weeks, increasing the visibility of the content and network for customers with detailed real-time and historical data, and offering improved economics for up to 60% reduction in cost of distribution.
New developments include expanded resiliency and monitoring capabilities, along with a network gateway capable of receiving up to 500 channels. This enables more efficient management of large channel lineups, while supporting faster deployment and broader distribution across both established and emerging environments.
TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?
MK: The key difference lies in how the infrastructure is designed and operated for live video at scale. Many solutions rely on public cloud services or protocol-based transport, which can introduce variability in performance, limited visibility, and unpredictable costs as workflows grow. LTN’s approach is built around a purpose-designed and managed IP video network that integrates transport, monitoring, and control within a single environment. This allows broadcasters to maintain consistent performance with clear insight into signal health across the full distribution chain.
Recent enhancements further strengthen this by enhanced 99.9999% SLA-backed availability for improved resiliency, expanding monitoring capabilities, and simplifying large-scale deployment. Combined with centralized orchestration and broader interoperability, this enables broadcasters to manage complex distribution workflows more efficiently while maintaining control over performance and operations.
TVT: What is it about NAB Show that brings you back every year?
MK: NAB Show remains one of the most important gatherings for the media and broadcast industry, offering a unique view into how technology and business priorities are evolving. It provides an opportunity to see new developments in context and understand how they are being applied in real-world environments.
For LTN, the event is also an opportunity to reconnect with existing partners and build new relationships. It brings together a wide range of perspectives, from broadcasters to technology providers, all focused on navigating the same industry shifts and identifying practical ways to move forward. Engaging with customers, partners, and industry peers creates space to share experiences, address common challenges, and explore new approaches to content production and distribution. LTN will showcase partners like MediaKind, Ateme, Synamedia, Harmonic, NCTC, ACA, Amagi, Appear, Lumen and Sencore at the booth.
