MIRAMAR, Fla.—Cable operator Breezeline has signed a deal with DirecTV that will expand viewing choices for its streaming-focused customers that will allow them to directly subscribe to DirecTV live sports and entertainment packages.

The streaming bundles of programming from DirecTV are backed by a two-year price guarantee.

“We’re rethinking how our customers experience TV by prioritizing convenience and modern viewing technology,” said Bart Nickerson, chief commercial officer at Breezeline. “With DirecTV, we’re bringing live sports and entertainment to customers with the speed, strength, and reliability of our fiber-powered network. Customers can simply plug in a DirecTV Gemini [streaming] device or log into the DirecTV app and start watching immediately.”

Breezeline, which is the country’s eighth largest cable operator, reported that customers can lock in DirecTV’s satellite-free Signature Packages for two full years with a price guarantee without having to sign an annual contract. Through a new Bundle & Save incentive, customers who pair DirecTV with Breezeline Internet will enjoy a $5 monthly discount on their Internet bill.

“Consumers want simple access to the live sports, local channels, news and entertainment they care about most,” said Mike Wittrock, COO at DirecTV. “This relationship gives them more choice, simplicity and value by bringing together what Breezeline and DirecTV each do best, delivering reliable connectivity and a premium entertainment experience.”

Breezeline provides its residential and business customers with internet, TV, and phone services in 13 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as mobile service in most states in which it operates.

More information on the new service is available at https://www.breezeline.com/tv.

STOCKHOLM—Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution for a new nationwide IP contribution network for the public broadcaster ORF in Austria.

The rollout was carried out in close collaboration with local partner TV-Connect.

ORF’s decision to upgrade to Big Blue Marble’s new IP media network stems from the need to replace a legacy SDI-based infrastructure with a scalable, future-proof IP contribution solution. The deployment connects ORF’s headquarters and an additional production facility in Vienna to all nine regional production studios, one in each of Austria’s federal states.

“This modernization project strengthens our ability to meet evolving production demands, while ensuring reliability and seamless integration across IP and SDI environments,” says Norbert Grill, CTO at Big Blue Marble. “Thanks to the joint support from Net Insight and TV-Connect, we’re able to deliver a robust solution across our entire national footprint.”

The new network is built around the Nimbra 1000 and Nimbra 600 platforms, supporting high-quality ST 2110 workflows for both video and audio, while also enabling seamless interoperability with SDI environments through integrated legacy conversion. Key features include full NMOSbased control and orchestration, allowing the broadcaster to integrate media flow management with their existing control systems for streamlined operation and increased agility across production sites.

“This deployment is a clear example of our strategic and focused investment in the growing IP-based media market,” said Andreas Eriksson, CEO of Net Insight. “It underlines our strong position in IP-based solutions and our ability to deliver high performance, scalable workflows that meet evolving customer demands. Together with Big Blue Marble and TV-Connect, this project reflects the trust placed in our technology and our commitment to collaborative partnerships that drive transformation in media transport.”

For more information, please visit netinsight.net.

WASHINGTON—A federal judge has set a hearing in the ABC lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission for sometime in the week of October 5.

On August 18, ABC filed a lawsuit against the FCC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case #26-cv-2902). It also filed a motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, saying the court’s intervention "is necessary to stop the [FCC’s] extraordinary assault on free speech."

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has called the suit “meritless.”

ABC had been seeking quick court action on the motion and had asked for a hearing as early as August 24.

U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan instead issued an order setting a hearing for sometime during the week of October 5. She said however that she would move the hearing on the Temporary Restraining Order up if the FCC took action in the proceedings.

The FCC took the ruling as a victory. “We are pleased that the judge has now rejected Disney’s meritless attempt to rush into court,” a FCC spokesperson said. “The court also sided with the FCC over Disney on the schedule going forward and has declined Disney’s request for an immediate injunction. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”

DirecTV has launched a new promotion that offers new DirecTV customers who choose a DirecTV Genre Pack and its Gemini streaming device will get a year of free access to Netflix Standard with ads.

Normally Netflix’s ad supported service is priced at $8.99 a month.

The promotion is being offered at a time when more pay TV operators are bundling discounted streaming services with their video offerings as a way of attracting consumers. With a DirecTV Gemini device, subscribers can access Netflix right alongside their live channels in one easy-to-use interface, all on a single bill.

DirecTV has also been pushing smaller more focused packages like its Genre packs, which target consumer interests for sports, entertainment or other content at more affordable packages.

More information is available here.

LONDON—Techex, a specialist in live IP video transport, has tapped Stuart Almond as chief revenue officer.

In his new role, Almond is tasked with driving Techex’s business strategy and development initiatives and supporting its continued expansion as broadcasters and content owners transition to dynamic, cloud-native production environments, the company said.

A 25-year industry veteran, Almond brings experience spanning technology, media and telecommunications, Techex said. He has held senior leadership positions with such companies as Qvest, Microsoft and Sony Professional Solutions Europe.

Techex develops software-defined live IP video transport, transformation and monitoring solutions for Tier-1 broadcasters and media companies. Its specialized software stack—including its tx edge gateway and tx darwin processing framework—enables secure, low-latency live video routing across uncompressed IP, managed wide area networks and public cloud environments.

For more information, visit the Techex website.

Free speech is easy to defend when we agree with the speaker. The real test comes when someone says something we find offensive, foolish or downright wrong.

That is why conservatives should pay close attention to the controversy surrounding Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr and ABC. This is not fundamentally about Jimmy Kimmel, liberal media bias or whether Americans enjoy late-night television. It is about something much more important: Should the federal government use its regulatory power to pressure broadcasters because government officials dislike what is being said on the air?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), certainly no liberal, understood the danger immediately.

After Carr warned that broadcasters could face consequences following Kimmel’s controversial comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Cruz objected strongly. He compared Carr’s “easy way or hard way” language to something out of a mob movie.

Cruz’s larger point was common sense: Conservatives may enjoy seeing a liberal television personality put under pressure today, but what happens when political power changes hands?

Imagine a Democratic FCC chairman telling a conservative television network: Change your programming, discipline your host or your broadcast licenses may receive some special attention.

Conservatives would rightly be outraged.

The Constitution does not change depending upon which political party controls Washington.

Government should not be deciding which political opinions are acceptable. It should not be rewarding friendly broadcasters and intimidating hostile ones. And it certainly should not be using licenses, investigations or regulatory reviews as political weapons.

ABC has now gone to court, arguing that the FCC’s actions were motivated, at least in significant part, by hostility toward viewpoints expressed in its programming. That allegation will have to be tested in court. But the broader constitutional principle should not require a judge to explain it to us.

Government retaliation against speech is dangerous whether the target is MS NOW, Fox News, ABC, a conservative radio host or a liberal comedian.

We have seen versions of this movie before.

For decades, conservatives complained with considerable justification about government policies that could pressure broadcasters over their programming. The old Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to present contrasting viewpoints on controversial public issues. Whatever its original intentions, conservatives came to understand that government supervision of “fairness” could easily become government supervision of political speech.

There is also the history of Rupert Murdoch. In the 1980s, Congress passed legislation that specifically interfered with temporary FCC waivers affecting Murdoch’s newspaper and television holdings in New York and Boston. A federal appeals court ultimately found that Congress had improperly singled him out.

The lesson should have lasted longer than one generation.

The Supreme Court expressed the principle beautifully all the way back in 1886. A law can look perfectly fair on paper yet become unconstitutional when government officials enforce it with what the Court famously called “an evil eye and an unequal hand.”

Put that into everyday language: Government cannot use neutral-looking rules to punish people it doesn’t like.

That principle applies equally to Republicans and Democrats.

There is an even simpler answer for conservatives who believe ABC, Disney or other major media organizations are hopelessly liberal.

Compete.

That is what free-market capitalism is supposed to mean.

Build better television networks. Create stronger digital platforms. Invest in newspapers. Finance filmmakers and documentary producers. Develop new streaming services. Support talented conservative journalists, comedians and commentators. And if wealthy conservatives believe an existing media company can be run better, they are perfectly free to buy shares, organize investors and attempt to acquire control through lawful market transactions.

Elon Musk bought Twitter and transformed it into X. Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post. Wealthy Americans routinely invest in media organizations because they understand the enormous influence that comes with controlling platforms and distributing ideas.

That is capitalism.

Using government regulatory power to frighten media companies is something very different.

I have spent much of my professional life in broadcasting and media. I know firsthand that broadcasters operate in a regulated environment. The public airwaves are not identical to a printing press or someone’s personal social-media account. The FCC has legitimate responsibilities involving spectrum, licensing, ownership and technical standards.

But those legitimate responsibilities make restraint even more important.

When the same government agency that regulates your license begins criticizing your political programming, every broadcaster understands the enormous imbalance of power.

That is precisely why conservatives should be especially careful.

We spent decades warning that government bureaucracies could be weaponized against people because of their politics. We cannot suddenly decide that weaponization is acceptable when our side controls the weapon.

Jimmy Kimmel can be criticized. Viewers can turn him off. Advertisers can walk away. ABC executives can fire him. Competitors can defeat him in the marketplace.

Those are all consequences of freedom.

But government intimidation is not the answer.

The First Amendment was not written to protect popular speech. Popular speech rarely needs protection. It exists precisely because unpopular, irritating and offensive speech will inevitably tempt those in power to silence it.

Today the target may be a liberal comedian.

Tomorrow it could be a conservative broadcaster.

If we believe in free speech, we must defend the principle even when we dislike the person exercising it.

And if conservatives believe liberal media organizations have too much influence, the answer is wonderfully American:

Compete with them. Outperform them. Or buy them.

Just don’t ask the government to silence them.

Avid Content Core will be the key focus at Avid’s booth at the 2026 IBC Show, Sept. 11-14 at the RAI Amsterdam.

Debuting at IBC2025, Avid says its Avid Content Core platform “continues to evolve as the intelligence layer connecting Avid's agentic ecosystem across news and post production.”

At IBC2026, Avid will introduce native asset management capabilities, connecting media across customers’ own cloud and on-premises environments—including Avid NEXIS, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and other third-party storage, facilitating the ability to index, search, manage, and work with content wherever it resides. Beyond a traditional MAM, this connected media understanding provides the foundation for agentic automation to execute work within trusted production workflows, without requiring everything to be migrated into a single repository, according to the company.

For news production, the company will demonstrate how connected planning, modern rundown, production, and publishing workflows across Avid Content Core, MediaCentral and Wolftech News, help teams accelerate content delivery across every platform.

For post production, Avid will demonstrate how Avid Content Core's media intelligence, understanding of media identity, location, metadata, and production context help enable agentic editing across Media Composer and Avid Content Core.

Avid will also showcase its latest Pro Tools updates for audio post production, helping creative teams deliver world-class audio across increasingly complex productions. Highlights include support for the immersive broadcast standard MPEG-H plus previews of new powerful integrations that streamline audio post production from editing and ADR through final mix.

Avid will be in Booth 7.B59.

WASHINGTON—IndyCar and Fox Sports will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding this weekend by presenting the Freedom 250 Grand Prix from the National Mall and surrounding streets.

(Race coverage begins Sunday, Aug. 23, at 1 p.m. ET on Fox and FS1. Pre-race coverage starts at 11:30 a.m. ET.)

While the broadcaster is devoting a bevy of broadcast and production tech to covering the race, the real highlight is the nation’s capital, historic architecture and storied landmarks as drivers run the circuit past the U.S. Capitol, down Pennsylvania Ave. and along the National Mall. Some 250,000 race fans are also expected to attend, adding to the spectacle.

“All credit to making this race happen goes to the president of Penske and to our CEO,” said Michael Davies, executive vice president, field and technical management and operations for Fox Sports. “This was their vision. They wanted to do this to have IndyCar contribute to the celebrations for the 250th, and that's how we're going to treat it.”

The backdrop for the race played heavily into coverage planning efforts. “Of course, there’s a competition afoot, but we really made an effort to have each shot show off the iconic nature of where we are,” he said.

OWL Cam and Washington Monument
Among the 90 cameras the broadcaster will use to cover the race is a newly designed specialty camera dubbed OWL Cam, mounted to a 4D gimbal for four-axis stabilized shots and suspended about 12 to 13 feet over Pennsylvania Avenue.

Fox Sports constructed a special arched truss over the street with a track for OWL Cam to follow. As the race’s main straightaway, Pennsylvania Avenue will see drivers reach speeds of around 180 miles per hour as they pass beneath the camera.

“The camera itself is going to be able to crawl from one side of the arch to the other,” Davies said. “But more importantly, its 4D gimbal will allow the camera to pan and swivel as the cars go underneath.”

Conceived in a Washington bar and drawn on the back of a beer coaster, OWL Cam will give the broadcaster a view of the Capitol as it looks down the straightaway, he said. Fox Sports worked with JitaCam (Jib in the air Cam) to bring the camera concept to fruition.

JitaCam started with an inverse jib widely used to fly over crowds at combat sports and other events. As the broadcaster’s “go-to people for specialty cameras,” in Davies words, the company souped up the setup to meet Fox Sports’ vision, adding the gimbal and the ability to crawl. “They basically pieced it together with different things that they own and rented to make it a reality,” he said.

Five hundred feet above the race, on the observation deck of the Washington Monument, Fox Sports is positioning a camera and operator to capture the massive crowd expected to attend.

“Interestingly enough, there’s a piece of fiber up there that we found out about from one of our video guys who does pool work,” Davies said. “It doesn’t get more iconic than that, looking all the way down the National Mall to see 250,000 people."

Drones and Beyond
Once again, Fox Sports will work with drone partner Beverly Hills Aerials to capture race action with the help of drones. As would be expected, flying a drone in the nation’s capital, especially when heightened security is always a concern, required Fox Sports to secure many government approvals.

Seeking those approvals began months ago, and only days before the race, when Davies was interviewed for this article, did the Fox Sports executive vice president express confidence that “our aerial profile is complete.”

Aerial shots from drones are critical to race coverage at this point because “it just wouldn’t look like the same kind of race” without them, he said.

“This is how far drones have come over the years,” Davies said. “They've become not a nice-to-have, but something that is essential to the sport.”

In all, Fox Sports will deploy some 90 cameras to cover the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, consisting of multiple manned and robotic cameras along the streets, including a swift-panning robotic camera it first used in March, during the Java House Grand Prix in Arlington, Texas.

Fox Sports will also deploy in-car cameras, which “have been a huge part of what we’ve been reimagining for IndyCar,” Davies said. The broadcaster has doubled the number of in-car cameras used.

“We now have two cameras and two simultaneous feeds out of every car,” he said. “We’ve added some positions, including the ‘Top Gun’ position, which basically looks back at the driver to see the driver’s helmet, as well as the driver’s eye view camera.”

However, it’s not simply the in-car cameras but also the graphics paired with those shots that create the biggest impact on viewers. “The graphics that go with them allow viewers to really stay focused within the context of the race in watching the cars,” he said. “The graphics communicate where the car is on the track, its speed, its position and the turn that is coming up.

“When you take an in-car [camera], you not only take the camera, but you also take the graphics that go with it,” Davies said.

RF Environment and More
As with other races, RF plays a critical role—not only for video transmission from in-car cameras but also telemetry sources, communications between drivers and crews and production comms. However, unlike in other locales, the federal government in Washington makes extremely intensive use of RF to support its communications needs.

Fox Sports contracted with BSI, an NEP company, for in-car camera transmission and “everything else,” said Davies. BSI began three months ago working on every facet of frequency coordination, including securing Special Temporary Authority (STAs) from the FCC to meet the broadcaster’s needs.

“Nothing has been left to chance in terms of making sure that all the stakeholders, from law enforcement to government security to everything else, are on the same page with us in terms of all the frequencies that we use,” he said. “Coordination definitely was not an afterthought.”

The broadcaster will produce race coverage on site with its production partner Indy Motorsports Productions, using the Penske Entertainment-owned company’s flagship HD5 production truck. For its pre-race coverage, Fox Sports will work from a Game Creek production truck, he said.

For its audio coverage of the race, the broadcaster will continue to rely on two mics in the car—one at the front of the vehicle towards the engine and one onboard the car. “One of the things we’ve been working on is separating the audio both in IndyCar and NASCAR to expand the audio. It’s always great to hear that separation of audio in street races. It’s fantastic,” Davies said.

Contemplating the upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix, Davies reflected on the race’s historic nature.

“You know, back in the late 1700s and early 1800s they used to run horses by the White House,“ Davies said. ‘For five years, they had a horse track—that was the racing that used to be in D.C.. We’re looking forward to bringing back horsepower to Washington, D.C.”

ESPN delivered the most-watched WNBA game ever on cable as the Atlanta Dream-Indiana Fever matchup averaged 2.6 million viewers on Sunday, August 16.

The telecast ranks as the most-watched WNBA regular-season or postseason game ever on cable. The audience was up 178% compared to last year’s ESPN regular season average. The game peaked at 4 million viewers from 7:15-7:29 p.m. ET.

Leading into the game, WNBA Countdown presented by Google Pixel averaged 452,000 viewers on ESPN, up 33% compared to last year’s ESPN regular season average.

The second game of ESPN’s Sunday doubleheader also delivered a record audience, as the Phoenix Mercury celebrated Diana Taurasi’s jersey retirement. Portland Fire-Phoenix Mercury averaged 1.4 million viewers, the most-watched non-Indiana regular-season WNBA game ever on ESPN and up 46% from last year’s ESPN regular-season average.

Through 25 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks is averaging 1.4 million viewers, up 16% compared to the comparable point last season.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets throughout the Dodgers broadcast territory.

The launch, which follows the close of Charter's acquisition of Cox Communications, is in time for the August 21 game against the Pirates. It brings Dodgers baseball and SportsNet LA's full slate of studio programming to a significantly expanded audience just as the playoff race heats up.

Beginning immediately, subscribers to Contour TV Preferred or Contour TV Ultimate in former Cox markets located in the Las Vegas, Orange County, Palos Verdes and Santa Barbara areas have access to SportsNet LA as part of their TV service.

On Contour TV lineups, the network can be found on channel 50 in Las Vegas, channel 63 in Orange County, channel 54 in Palos Verdes and channel 36 in Santa Barbara.

SportsNet LA's coverage includes live regular season games alongside the network's full lineup of studio programming. Regular season game coverage is led by Joe Davis and Dodgers legend Orel Hershiser, now in their 11th season together as the voices of Dodger baseball, with additional game analysis from Eric Karros, Jessica Mendoza and Dontrelle Willis, and field reporting from Kirsten Watson.

More information on the network is available at sportsnetla.com.

NEW YORK—Gracenote’s Q3 2026 Data Hub analysis shows rapid growth for sports-related ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels and programming over the last year.

Overall the number of FAST channels classified as sports rose 13.8% year over year to 264. Over the same period, unique sports program titles increased 31.2%, while individual games and events distributed across FAST climbed 37.5%.

Each measure captures a different dimension of the FAST sports market, the researchers noted.

Channel count tracks FAST channels classified as sports, while program title count reflects the breadth of distinct offerings. Because a single sports program title can encompass many games or competitions, tracking them individually provides a fuller picture of the volume of sports distributed across FAST.

The analysis also found that in July, sports programming appeared on 20 FAST channels outside the sports category. The pattern resembles traditional television, where sports serves as both destination programming on dedicated channels and as part of lineups centered on other genres.

In general, sports programming also grew faster than the overall FAST category. Globally, FAST channel count increased 17.5% year over year to 2,172, compared with 18.6% gains in total video distribution and 19.4% in TV program titles.

The resulting larger sports inventory gives FAST programmers greater flexibility to create varied schedules and reduce reliance on frequently repeated content, the researchers explained. More broadly, the findings suggest that competitive differentiation across FAST will increasingly be shaped by the range and volume of programming within the ecosystem—not channel count alone.

The Gracenote Data Hub is a set of data visualizations tracking the volume and composition of programming available across leading global subscription video-on-demand services (SVOD) and FAST channels. Derived from Gracenote Global Video Data and updated quarterly, the Data Hub covers Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix and Paramount+, as well as more than 2,170 FAST channels.

Q3 Data Hub reporting pairs program title counts with data on individual episodes, games and events, offering a more granular view of programming distribution and revealing changes beneath topline catalog and channel counts.

The University of Maryland has deployed Sony FX30 cameras as part of a wider effort to reinvent video journalism and help their students tell more immersive stories, drawing on traditional broadcast journalism, documentary filmmaking and the new techniques and styles of creator journalism.

One example of the how this works comes from Josh Davidsburg, a documentary filmmaker and principal lecturer at the school’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

He says that his early career aspirations leaned more toward the evening news or Hollywood, not PBS. Now, with the help of Sony’s FX30 cinema cameras, he’s firmly rooted in all three communities and he’s helping his journalism students at the University of Maryland (UMD) learn new ways to tell a story.

“Growing up, I was deciding between being a TV journalist like my dad or a movie director because I had a passion for film and cinema,” said Davidsburg. He chose the former, which led to a journalism degree and eventually a teaching position at UMD.

He finds the Sony FX30 is the right camera for the evolving field of “creator” journalism, a unique blend of feature- and documentary-style filmmaking suited for social media and digital platforms from YouTube to streaming services. The camera’s mix of price, functionality and performance made it an ideal fit for UMD’s journalism program.

Davidsburg describes modern-era documentaries as a convergence of journalism and cinema, likening them to the pioneering work of 1970s “new journalism” writers like Hunter S. Thompson or Tom Wolfe, who injected literary techniques into their reporting. Newer camera technologies have also dramatically democratized filmmaking. Field cameras once cost $40,000 to $60,000 and required operation by dedicated photographers, not reporters: “I would go on assignment with a photographer and, as the reporter, I couldn’t touch their camera!”

Now cameras with high-end capabilities cost a fraction of these early prices with corresponding drops in size and learning curves, putting them easily in reach of students and reporters at any level.

UMD is expanding its curriculum with a documentary master’s program, a cinematography class, and an upcoming editing class. It’s all part of UMD’s plan to teach students how to combine the traditional “wide, medium, tight” approach to TV news shooting with cinematic techniques that immerse viewers in a story.

“We blend extensive practical lab work with classroom theory,” Davidsburg said. “Students enjoy the mix because it gets them out of their seats and into the world, actively using cameras rather than just sitting and listening to lectures.”camera screen with content

Currently, UMD has six FX30 cameras and about 40 Sony ENG-style cameras – a mix of the HXR-NX800, HXR-NX5U, and HXR-NX3 models. Journalism students start with the ENG cameras in their first video production course and then “graduate” to the FX30s in cinematography and documentary producing courses.

The balance of field and lab work varies by the course. For example, cinematography classes are roughly half lecture and half shooting exercises. “One day we’re lecturing and the next we’ll send them out on a cinematography scavenger hunt where they have to get shots with shallow or wide depths of field or do a rack focus,” he said.

Right Fit for a Lab

Davidsburg’s personal filmmaking projects were also responsible for bringing the FX30 to the UMD students. He shot his latest documentary, “A Banner Year” – about local, nonprofit newspaper The Baltimore Banner – with Sony’s FX3 cinema camera, which he described as a perfect run‑and‑gun camera with the ergonomics and video‑focused controls to match his shooting requirements.

“When you’re following newspaper reporters who are often dealing with sensitive topics and confidential sources, you don’t want something big and imposing,” Davidsburg said. “I was often filming at night and with the FX3’s low light capabilities, the camera can almost see in the dark.”

Production for “A Banner Year” is complete and plans include submitting the film to festivals. His experience with the FX3 led him to choose the FX30 for his coursework. The FX30 offers many of the FX3’s capabilities but at a lower price and with enough features to give students an entry into the cinematic world.

“The FX30’s ergonomics are great,” he said. “Students aren’t complaining about lugging giant cameras everywhere. The leap in quality from the cameras we were using to the FX30s is incredible. They can go out and come back with a beautiful image that inspires them and gets them excited about this type of work.”

Students find the FX30’s autofocus valuable when dealing with the shallow depth of field of cinema shooting. The camera’s color science with the S-Cinetone picture profile combined with its dynamic range “elevates everybody’s shooting,” Davidsburg said. The UMD program is also pairing the FX30s with Sony wireless audio, and the camera-to-editing workflow is straightforward and compatible with UMD’s editing software.

Most importantly, UMD students are getting a head start on their future careers, gaining valuable hands-on experience that they will eventually apply on a set or in a newsroom.

He added, “If you’re doing documentaries right, you’re taking cinematic techniques and journalistic techniques and combining them to do journalistic storytelling. With these cameras, we’re on that track.”

NEW YORK—AES Show Nashville 2026 has released new details about the audio tech event , which is currently offering Bird registration with discounted rates available through August 27.

As part of an effort to revitalize and reimagine the show, which is taking place Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, the organizers have also announced a growing roster of exhibitors and partners.

Participating companies and brands include Abbey Road, Allen & Heath, AMS Neve Ltd., API, ATR Service, Inc., Audeze, Audinate, Audio Alchemist, Audio Distribution Group, Audio-Technica, Audioscape Engineering Co., AudioShake, Austrian Audio, AuviTran, BeesNeez Microphones, Belmont University, Blackmagic Design, Chameleon Labs, Chandler Limited, Clear-Com, Cloud Microphones, Dangerous Music, DiGiCo, Digigram, Eleven Dimensions Media, EMI, Eventide, Ex Machina Soundworks, Ferrofish, Firehouse 12, Fostex, FullScale AV, Genelec, Google, Grace Design, Gyraf Audio, Harrison Audio, Hear Technologies, Hisong Global, Immersive Design Labs, Jam Industries USA, JamRacks, JoeCo, L-Acoustics, Lauten Audio, Lawo, Lectrosonics, Marian, MyMix, Neumann, Niron Magnetics, Nordic Audio Labs, One F Sound, PACE Anti-Piracy, Peluso Microphone Lab, Prism Sound, PSI Audio, RCF, Recording the Masters, Reloop, RME, Rupert Neve Designs, Sennheiser, Shure, Solid State Logic, Sony Electronics, Sound Ideas, Sound Radix, Soundproof Windows, STAGETEC North America, Synthax Inc., TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik, Triad-Orbit Advanced Stand Systems, Violet Audio, WAVE Distribution, Waves, Wolff Audio, Yamaha and Zynaptiq.

Designed to encourage meaningful interaction between brands and attendees, the organizers said that AES Show Nashville will combine exhibits with technical sessions, workshops, research presentations, studio tours, networking and special events.

Recording and production, live sound and touring, installed audio, broadcast, immersive audio, education, AI and machine learning, game audio and emerging technologies will all be represented, creating new opportunities to discover products, exchange ideas and build relationships across the audio industry.

“Nashville is more than a destination — it is one of the world’s great centers for music production and audio technology,” said AES Show Nashville Convention Chair Graham Kirk. “Bringing the AES Show to Music City gives manufacturers, developers and audio professionals an opportunity to connect across multiple disciplines while becoming part of a new Show experience built around the people, technologies and ideas shaping what comes next in audio.”

Kirk leads the AES Show Nashville committee alongside Co-chairs Russ Long and Brian (Bt) Gibbs. The leadership team includes Areti Andreopoulou and Braxton Boren, Papers; Ian Corbett and Angela Piva, Education & Students; Jim Kaiser, Recording & Production; Jonathan Wyner, AI & Machine Learning; Steve Martz, Game & XR; Vince Lepore, Networking; Mary Mazurek, DEIR; Jim Jordan and Jim Gilmore, Facilities; Brad McCoy, Historical; Matt Pogorelc and Scott (Scooter) Hernbeck with Ryan Shelton, Live Sound/Touring/Install; Michael Hanson, Volunteers; and Robert Clyne, Special Events/Keynotes.

The show also stressed that the Nashville setting will be central to the new experience, with programming and activities designed to extend beyond the traditional show floor and connect attendees with Music City’s renowned studio, production and professional audio community.

Early Bird registration rates are available through August 27. Exhibitors and sponsors can also still secure opportunities to showcase products, demonstrate technologies and put their brands directly in front of an engaged professional audio audience.

More information on registering, exhibiting and the show is available at AESShow.com.

GENEVA, Switzerland—GlobalM today announced that it is integrating its GMX software-defined media platform with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), bringing together Oracle’s global cloud infrastructure with GlobalM’s technology for live media contribution, processing, and distribution.

The integration will enable GMX Cloud services to run across OCI regions, giving broadcasters, sports organizations, and media companies access to a significantly expanded global footprint for live media workflows, GlobalM said.

At enable improved automation, GMX creates a software-defined media network on OCI, automatically deploying the compute, networking, media processing, and routing resources required for each service. Infrastructure is spun up and configured on demand, point to multipoint contribution and distribution paths are established automatically, and resources can be scaled as requirements change before being automatically released when services finish.

This allows broadcasters to schedule and consume OCI infrastructure dynamically without having to manually build and configure the underlying cloud environment for every production, the company said.

OCI is particularly well-suited to professional broadcast applications because of its high-performance networking and flexible compute architecture. OCI Flexible Shapes allow compute and memory resources to be configured according to individual workload requirements, enabling GMX to optimize infrastructure for applications ranging from SRT and RIST gateways to transcoding, remultiplexing and high-throughput media distribution.

Oracle’s global cloud footprint also complements GlobalM’s distributed architecture. GMX processing and routing nodes can be automatically deployed across OCI locations, allowing contribution feeds to enter the cloud close to their source and receiving broadcasters to connect through infrastructure close to their destination. This helps keep the unmanaged first and last miles as short as practical while the core media workflow operates across managed cloud infrastructure.

The collaboration will also extend GlobalM’s hybrid capabilities. GMX1 processing and routing nodes deployed within customer facilities will be able to operate alongside GMX Cloud resources running on OCI. Combined with Oracle’s hybrid cloud capabilities, this will allow broadcasters to integrate existing facilities with dynamically deployed cloud processing, international distribution, additional capacity, redundancy, and disaster recovery.

GlobalM (1.A11) and Oracle (5.A21) will showcase GMX running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure at their booths during the 2026 IBC Show, Sept. 11-14 at the RAI Amsterdam.

CESSON-SÉVIGNÉ, France—Broadpeak is launching Multiview as a Service on broadpeak.io, the company’s SaaS platform at the 2026 IBC Show, Sept. 11-14 at the RAI Amsterdam. The fully managed self-serve SaaS offering enables broadcasters, streaming platforms and broadband providers to launch user-curated multiview experiences for live events with greater speed and simplicity.

Multiview allows audiences to choose their preferred layouts and watch multiple channels, live events or camera angles simultaneously, creating a richer viewing experience designed to increase engagement, encourage longer viewing sessions and help reduce subscriber churn, the company said.

“Multiview has quickly become one of the most requested capabilities for premium sports streaming, particularly across a huge summer of live sporting events, but the cost and complexity of deployment have prevented many providers from bringing it to market,” said Jacques Le Mancq, president and CEO of Broadpeak. “Bringing Multiview to broadpeak.io removes those barriers and makes sophisticated viewing experiences accessible to a wide range of service providers via a nimble, cost-efficient model.”

Broadpeak says its cloud-based service significantly accelerates time to market. Customers can introduce Multiview across a broad range of devices through a flexible, usage-based SaaS model, eliminating upfront CAPEX investment and aligning costs with service usage.

Broadpeak also manages the underlying infrastructure and provides continuous service supervision through its team of video streaming experts. Proactive monitoring helps ensure consistent service performance, while detailed KPIs enable customers to optimize their service settings over time.

Broadpeak will be in Booth 1.F83 at the show.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Chyron will demonstrate the latest advancements in high-efficiency news workflows during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

"Building a roadmap for the future isn’t about forcing a complete infrastructure overhaul. It’s about taking the right next step at the right time," said Chris Amodei, group platform product manager, live production, Chyron.

At the convention, Chyron will showcase the future of web-native news graphics with a preview of PRIME HTML. Designed to plug directly into established NRCS environments, PRIME HTML will provide news teams with a secure path to modern HTML graphics. Building on PRIME’s current capability to bring HTML content into Preview and Output, PRIME HTML will introduce an on-prem, native HTML graphics authoring and output workflow using the PBHX scene format, engineered for secure local-network (LAN) playout.

With its upcoming native authoring tools, PRIME HTML is designed to safeguard creative investments by eliminating the need to recreate graphics in separate systems for broadcast, web, digital or HTML-based delivery.

Extending workflow efficiency to multi-language broadcasting, Chyron will feature a preview of PRIME Translate for localization of on-air graphics across multiple language outputs. PRIME Translate identifies replaceable text in PRIME graphics, translates it into the selected target language and routes the localized version to the appropriate output to deliver multilingual content in a matter of seconds while preserving the existing PRIME workflow.

The company will also showcase next-generation features for Chyron LIVE that are suited for live news. LIVE now supports SCTE-35 ad insertion support, tailored to help newsrooms monetize long-form digital streaming during breaking news, severe weather and special events.

Another key highlight for Chyron LIVE at IBC 2026 is a new self-managed portal integrated in AWS marketplace. Built for instant scalability, the portal enables instant spin up, pause or tear down of isolated secure broadcast environments.

At IBC 2026, Chyron will also demo CAMIO’s LUCI Control Panels, which offer advanced controls to fulfill graphics using intuitive sliders, visual color pickers and direct layout mapping alongside traditional replaceable text fields. This enables producers to populate complex graphics independently straight from the rundown, speeding up breaking news turnarounds while safeguarding brand rules established by the art department. Chyron will preview an improved redesign of the LUCI user interface, maximizing NRCS screen space with an intuitive, left-to-right layout.

Extending PRIME further into newsroom production, Chyron offers PRIME template support directly within AXIS News, providing a flexible option for simplifying daily graphics fulfillment. Inside AXIS, journalists can load brand-compliant PRIME scenes to customize text and graphics in real time.

Chyron will also preview upcoming AXIS innovations, including an AI-powered Canvas Tool featuring automated background removal for rapid multi-layered image creation.

The company will showcase the full power of virtual sets, augmented reality (AR) and set extension in a dedicated demonstration zone featuring green screen and LED wall setups.

Powering this ecosystem will be a new low-latency VSAR Controller, a gRPC-based orchestration service that replaces legacy middleware.

The company will also feature its work to advance live weather operations with new data automation and automated quality controls. The updated platform introduces native Climate Data Operators (CDO) integration to process raw meteorological datasets directly within the system, streamlining the production of dynamic on-air graphics from complex feeds.

Chyron will also preview a prototype that combines Cyron Weather with VSARE for live, interactive studio environments. Using the familiar Weather Presenter interface, meteorologists can simply drag virtual trigger objects directly into their playlist alongside standard map slides.

As the presenter moves through the forecast, the virtual set reacts in real time, automatically launching environmental effects, like studio rain.

See Chyron at IBC 2026 stand 7.A23.

More information is available on the company’s website.

INDIANAPOLIS—Pacers Sports & Entertainment has named DAZN its exclusive streaming, bringing fans live games and team content with 22 regular season games and four preseason games available free on the DAZN app.

Through the new team-branded streaming service launching in early September on DAZN, fans throughout the Pacers' home television territory, including Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, will be able to watch every Pacers game live and on demand.

Fans will have multiple ways to watch all 82 Pacers regular-season games this season. Of the 22 games available for free on the DAZN app, 15 are also expected to air on a local over-the-air broadcast station partner. Eleven games will be nationally televised through NBA broadcast partners, while all locally available games will be available live and on demand through DAZN.

Chris Denari, Quinn Buckner, Jeremiah Johnson and Eddie Gill will continue to call Pacers games throughout the 2026-2027 season.

“This partnership is about making Pacers basketball more accessible than ever before,” said president and CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment Mel Raines. “Local sports broadcasting has evolved significantly over the last decade and so has the way people watch games. DAZN is a global leader in sports streaming, and its premium viewing experience gives our fans more flexibility and affordable access to Pacers basketball, while creating more opportunities to connect with the team.”

DAZN subscribers will have access to expanded pregame and postgame coverage, highlights, behind-the-scenes access and original programming throughout the season.

Available in more than 200 markets worldwide, DAZN is a leader in direct-to-consumer sports entertainment, annually delivering more than 140,000 live sports events as well as innovative viewing experiences through partnerships spanning the NBA, NFL, NHL, college football and basketball, soccer, boxing, MMA, F1, MotoGP and other major sports leagues, competitions and properties.

When the service launches later this summer, fans can download the DAZN app for free and start with a free, 7-day trial before choosing the subscription that works best for them. Fans who sign up by Oct. 15 can purchase an Early Bird Season Pass for just $59.99, saving 50% off the regular $119.99 price and getting every available game for about $1 per game. A monthly pass will be available for $19.99.

More information is available online.

STAMFORD, Conn.—After getting final regulatory approvals last week, Charter Communications has completed its previously announced $34.5 billion transaction with Cox Communications (Cox) and the acquisition of Liberty Broadband Corporation.

The combined company will be by far the largest pay TV and broadband provider in the U.S., serving more than 37 million video, broadband, phone and mobile customers in 45 states.

The two merged cable operators plan to change the company’s name to Cox Communications next year but will operate under Charter’s consumer facing Spectrum brand.

The operator also plans to launch the Spectrum brand, pricing and packaging in all Cox markets.

Also as part of the deal, John Malone’s Liberty Broadband will no longer be a direct shareholder and will no longer designate board members, ending the direct influence of one of the most important pioneers and entrepreneurs in the history of cable TV.

“The addition of Cox to the Spectrum footprint is one that can be celebrated by customers, employees and investors alike,” said Chris Winfrey, Charter president and CEO. “Together, we will bring the best products, at the best price, coupled with the highest level of customer service to more customers across our expanded 45-state Spectrum footprint. And Cox employees will soon have access to all the programs and benefits that have made Charter an employer of choice where its 100% U.S.-based employees can build long-term careers.

The deal creating a much larger operation is also likely to provide new impetus to consolidation among broadcasters who will be looking for ways to strengthen their hand in retransmission consent negotiations with pay TV providers.

In announcing the closing, Winfrey also touched on the issue of consolidation and increased competition cable operators face from 5G providers, noting that, “the market has changed considerably over the past decade, and regional providers like Spectrum are competing with national and even global connectivity and entertainment companies. Today, with expanded scale, we are better positioned to compete and continue investment in our products and service, tools and platforms, and to further the capability and reach of our Spectrum Fiber Broadband Network.”

“When Liberty first invested in Charter more than a decade ago, we saw an opportunity to build scale behind a great management team and operating model,” added Dr. John C. Malone, chairman of Liberty Broadband. “The combination of Charter and Cox creates a stronger, more competitive company to further invest and innovate, while giving Liberty Broadband shareholders a direct interest in its future. I have tremendous respect for the Cox family and its long tradition of entrepreneurial leadership and responsible stewardship, and I look forward to seeing what Chris, Alex and their teams accomplish together.”

More information on the shareholding changes, new products, the combined board and other issues is available here.

We settled in for the night. The episode started. My elderly in-laws couldn't follow the popular Western's dialogue, so I reached for the remote to turn on captions. Simple enough, I thought.

On the first streaming app, the process was seamless: enlarge the text, add a dark background block, position it so it didn’t obscure the actors’ faces. Done in seconds. Then we switched apps for a movie, and the captions shrank to a font barely visible against a bright blue sky, with no size control and no way to reposition them.

Frustrated, I jumped to a third app and discovered there was no way to turn on captions from inside the video player at all. I had to exit the movie and dig through the streaming device's system settings.

A night meant for relaxation became a string of small, unnecessary aggravations. Multiply that by the tens of millions of households juggling four or five streaming apps, and you have a design failure that's rarely discussed with the seriousness it deserves.

The Problem We Already Solved Once
This is the same problem the industry already solved in hardware. For years, the “cable drawer” was a rite of passage: one proprietary connector for the phone, a different wide-pin connector for the tablet, a third for the camera. Traveling meant packing a tangled nest of cords just to keep your devices alive.

Then, driven largely by the EU’s common-charger mandate, the industry converged on USB-C. Nobody’s product got worse. If anything, the switch unlocked value. Manufacturers stopped competing on how they could lock customers in, and started competing on what their products could actually do.

Streaming is Repeating the Same Mistake
Every app is a new dialect. Streaming interfaces are running the hardware maze all over again, just without the cords. Every time a viewer switches apps and has to play detective to find the skip button, adjust playback speed, or turn on captions, the platform is taxing the viewer’s attention and treating a basic accessibility need as an afterthought.

Captions are not new technology. They are not some cutting-edge feature streaming apps are struggling to invent. Broadcast television has operated under federal captioning standards for decades. The technology and the precedent both already exist. What’s missing is the industry’s willingness to agree on how it should look and behave from app-to-app.

Consistency is a Form of Respect
We’ve already solved this kind of coordination problem elsewhere in consumer life. Play, pause, and fast-forward symbols mean the same thing regardless of language. Traffic lights dictate identical behavior worldwide. Power icons and QWERTY keyboards converged on standard forms because confusion has a measurable cost in time, accessibility, and trust.

Streaming platforms are one of the few remaining corners of consumer technology that still treat basic navigation as proprietary territory.

What This Reveals About Lasting Value
I’ve spent my career on the brand, creative, and commercial side of media products, and the pattern is consistent across every digital shift I’ve watched: the companies that build lasting enterprise value are the ones that obsess over the last mile of the experience, not the ones chasing the next feature. Beautiful content tied to a frustrating interface is still a product failure.

In a market saturated with choice, the real luxury isn’t more features. It's less friction.

The Real Question Every Interface Answers
Consistency is a form of respect. A universal charging port and a predictable caption menu are answering the same question for the customer: did you think about me, or did you just ship something and call it innovation?

Streaming platforms happen to be making this failure highly visible right now, but the rule applies to any company running a digital ecosystem. Every time we force a customer to relearn our dialect, we’re making them do our job for us.

What Comes Next
The companies willing to put ego aside and agree on a shared standard for captions, for playback controls, for the basic grammar of the remote won’t just make viewers’ evenings easier. They’ll be the ones customers trust the next time they’re choosing where to spend $15 a month. That trust is how loyalty actually gets built, and it’s worth more than any proprietary menu design ever will be.

The technology to fix this already exists. What’s missing is an industry willing to sit down together and use it.

KINGS PARK, NY—MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems will demonstrate its expanding camera robotics and motion control portfolio at IBC2026, Sept. 11-14 at the RAI Amsterdam. The show marks the first time MRMC (MultiDyne Robotics Motion Control), will exhibit as part of the MultiDyne organization, since it announced the acquisition of the assets of MRMC in June.

MRMC will be in Stand 12.H11, complementing MultiDyne’s separate Hall 11 stand (11.C12) and giving the combined organization two points of presence at the show.

MultiDyne says its strategy is to grow MRMC across all three of its established market areas: broadcast, film and commercial production, and rentals, all of which will be represented on the MRMC stand. New MRMC products are in the early stages of development for 2027

Neil Maycock, Managing Director, MultiDyne MRMC says its primary message at IBC is one of strength and continuity.

“IBC gives us an important opportunity to reinforce that MRMC remains the same innovative business our customers know,” he said. “We have preserved the respected MRMC brand along with its core technologies, intellectual property, manufacturing capabilities and key engineering expertise. Customers will see familiar faces, established products and the same commitment to exceptional engineering and support.”

MRMC says it will focus on three product ranges, including Cinebot Nano, which brings MRMC’s professional motion-control capabilities to filmmakers, content creators and smaller production teams in a compact platform. The nine-axis robot supports cameras up to 7kg and offers one meter of reach. PushMoco control allows operators to physically position the arm and record keyframes, while included Flair Lite software provides an accessible path to creating precise, repeatable camera moves. The system can operate on a pedestal or optional track and can be mounted to tripods, tables, carts, vehicles or in an inverted configuration, extending high-end robotic cinematography into productions.

The StudioBot range brings MRMC’s robotic-arm expertise directly into broadcast production, combining smooth multi-axis camera movement with precision, repeatability and production automation. Available in several configurations, StudioBot is designed to help broadcasters move beyond static studio camera positions and create more dynamic content while supporting virtual and automated production workflows, according to the company. Its Robokam software provides centralized graphical control for creating and editing shots, moves and playlists, with support for controlling multiple robotic systems and executing predefined movements or complex sequences without requiring programming expertise.

Rounding out the exhibit, MRMC’s Slidekamera extends the company’s portfolio from robotic arms into precision rail-based motion systems. The range spans modular sliders and PTZ camera movers for applications ranging from single-camera productions to large multi-camera studios, delivering the stable, fluid movement required for broadcast, videography, live events and other production environments. Of particular focus is ATLAS, which features modular configurations that can support creative cinematic moves as well as repeatable and automated studio workflows.

A helicopter crash in northern Kenya killed all seven passengers on Wednesday, including a Florida-based executive with Telemundo.

José Alberto Suárez, president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49, and Telemundo Ft. Myers-Naples was among those killed. Suarez worked at NBCUniversal Telemundo’s parent company for 18 years.

Over his 25-year career, Suárez also served as president of other stations including Telemundo 33, Telemundo Fresno, Telemundo Las Vegas, Telemundo Utah, and Telemundo San Antonio. He also worked at NBC Miami as executive producer of non-news programming and specials, including daily entertainment shows, according to NBC Digital.

He had received numerous awards during his career, including a Lone Star Emmy, a Suncoast Emmy, three Emmys for Best Daily Newscast, as well as several Associated Press awards.

The helicopter was owned by Lady Lori Kenya company, which released a statement Wednesday evening confirming the crash and expressing its condolences to the victims. The company said the cause of the crash was unknown and that it would be investigated by authorities.

NBC Newsgroup Chairman Cesar Conde, NBCU Local Chairman Valari Staab, and Telemundo station Group President Jose Cancela expressed their condolences in a joint statement.

“We are heartbroken to learn the tragic news that José was killed in a helicopter accident in Kenya. José was an exceptional colleague who cared deeply about his teams, the communities they served and the important role our stations play in people’s lives. He brought energy, humor, warmth and a strong sense of purpose to his work, and his impact was felt far beyond the stations he led. Our hearts are with his loved ones, and with all of José’s colleagues and friends who are grieving this terrible loss.”

MANILA—Prasad Corp, a global provider of media preservation, restoration, and post-production services, has opened its Center of Excellence for Film and Tape Preservation, Digitization, and Restoration in the City of Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines.

"Our Manila Center of Excellence strengthens Prasad Corp's ability to support content owners across the APAC region with world-class preservation, restoration, and post-production capabilities,” said Vivek Modi, president of sales and marketing, APAC, Prasad Corporation, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary. “By combining advanced 8K/4K archival scanning, specialized chemical restoration, and digital restoration, we are helping safeguard valuable film assets for future generations and enabling their reuse and monetization."

The new facility strengthens Prasad Corp's presence across the Asia-Pacific region, complementing its operations in the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.

Designed as a comprehensive preservation hub, it will provide digitization, chemical and digital restoration of motion picture film, videotapes, documents, books, photographs, microfilm, and other archival collections.

A key highlight of the center is the DFT POLAR HQ, a native 8K archive scanner featuring a true RGB sensor, HDR capability, and support for native 8K, Super4K, and Super2K outputs. Equipped with a Smart Motion Film Gate, it enables safe handling of fragile, aged, warped, and shrunken film while delivering exceptional image quality, dynamic range and color accuracy.

The center also offers specialized chemical restoration of deteriorated films, using advanced processes to stabilize, treat, and revive these film elements, complemented by digital restoration and integrated post-production services, including content enhancement, upconversion, mastering, and delivery—creating a seamless workflow from archival preservation to modern content distribution and monetization.

As one of the world's largest digital restoration facilities, Prasad Corp restored over 9,000 hours of film content, preserving cinematic heritage for theatrical, broadcast, and OTT platforms.

HENDERSON, Nev.—While the FIFA World Cup 2026 broke viewing records in the U.S. on linear TV and on streaming platforms, new data from Gaming Compliance International (GCI) suggests that an enormous amount of illegal streaming also occurred around the world. Its first complete global measurement of illegal streaming across the 2026 FIFA World Cup, estimates that there were 174.3 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally across the tournament.

The analysis also found that:

• 174.3 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds or more globally across the tournament
• 1.68 billion average qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus per match, globally
• 6.2 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally for the Spain vs Argentina Final
• 95% of qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally carried advertising for unregulated gambling

The estimate is derived from GCI's global monitoring and marketplace intelligence, using multiple proprietary and third-party licensed data sources.

A qualifying illegal stream view requires at least 90 seconds of streaming, denoting a "committed view". This is a stream-view measure, not a unique viewer count. The methodology accounts for stream interruptions, forced refreshes, reloads, mirror switches and channel resets throughout each match.

GCI's analysis also highlighted a dark nexus between illegal streaming and unregulated online gambling with heavy ad loads for unregulated gambling in the illegal streams.

GCI monitoring shows that illegal streamers can receive payment for advertising and referring audiences to unregulated gambling, with affiliate deals offering between 25% and 50% of net gaming revenue produced by unregulated gambling operators from referred customers.

The result is a powerful illegal economy: premium sports content attracts mainstream audiences; illegal streaming monetizes that attention; and unregulated gambling pays to acquire those audiences.

This relationship was previously identified by GCI in Great Britain. Analysis released in January 2026 found 3.1 billion illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus across the Top 10 sports in Great Britain during 2024 and another 1.6 billion during the first half of 2025, with unregulated gambling advertising present upon 89% of illegal sports streams.

The GCI study found that the World Cup demonstrated the same relationship at global scale.

Overall, GCI estimated the 2026 FIFA World Cup would generate $593 billion in global online betting handle — the value of money wagered on World Cup betting online. Of that total, $409 billion — 69% — was unregulated, compared with $184 billion — 31% — regulated.

While regulated operators saw record activity, the majority of wagering value flowed through offshore, unregulated and unlicensed channels, the study found.

Illegal streaming connects these two parts of the marketplace by delivering sports audiences to unregulated gambling operators while those consumers are watching live events and each game presents fresh betting prospects.

The commercial relationship with unregulated gambling is not the only risk associated with illegal streaming.

GCI's analysis found that video players, pop-ups and fake "click to watch in HD/4K" buttons can hide malware, spyware and keystroke loggers, exposing audiences to data harvesting and other forms of cybercrime.

"174 billion qualifying illegal stream views should remove any remaining illusion that illegal streaming is a marginal problem for sport, said Matt Holt, CEO of Gaming Compliance International (GCI). “Consumers experience one marketplace, and illegal streaming is an industrial-scale part of it — competing for the same audiences and extracting value that should support rights holders, broadcasters and the wider sports ecosystem.”

"When 95% of qualifying illegal stream views carry advertising for unregulated gambling, illegal streaming is not simply stealing content,” he added. “It is providing one of the world's largest sporting audiences as an acquisition channel for the unregulated gambling economy."

The full GCI Illegal Streaming – Global: World Cup 2026 report is available from Gaming Compliance International (GCI).

NEW YORK—Nielsen has announced a number of improvements to its Big Data + Panel currency measurement that the company says will improve its currency methodology before the new broadcast TV season and provide more accurate ratings.

The improvements include better co-viewing data in the runup to the popular fall football season, improved measurement of Hispanic audiences, updates to automatic content recognition (ACR) technology, improved demographic estimates and changes in the way it uses ARF DASH universe estimates.

“We are relentless in our pursuit of delivering the most accurate measurement possible for our media and advertising clients,” said Karthik Rao, CEO, Nielsen. “We’ve spent months working hand in hand with them and industry experts to make Big Data + Panel even more accurate.”

Nielsen said it has been working closely with its stakeholders to prepare the market for these enhancements, sharing preview data with clients to help them understand the potential impacts, while also negotiating the timing and contents of the updates with the oversight of the Media Ratings Council (MRC).

Nielsen described the new enhancements that it plans to incorporate by August 31 as follows:

• Co-Viewing: The co-viewing enhancement better incorporates the use of Nielsen’s proprietary wearable measurement devices. These are worn on the wrists of Nielsen panelists and resemble a smart watch. The wearables capture audio from TV events, shows and movies, allowing for more passive measurement that does not require a formal log in process. Because of the more passive nature of this measurement, including these devices in our measurement process will result in a more accurate picture of how many people are watching a given program.
• Latency Adjusted DASH UE (Universe Estimate): While Nielsen adopted the ARF’s DASH Universe Estimates into its currency earlier in 2026, this enhancement improves accuracy by fixing timing delays in survey data. Universe estimates are, as the name implies, an approximation of the total number of households or persons in a particular category – in this case, media consumption capabilities of U.S. homes. While previous DASH UEs were based on survey data from 2024, Nielsen is now adjusting these UEs to reflect more recent trends in consumer behavior.
• Household Demographic Assignment Model (HDAM) Enhancement: HDAM is a machine-learning tool used to determine the demographic makeup of households from Big Data providers. This update improves the process to ensure the data is more representative and does not artificially skew toward older residents.
• Integrated Weighting: Nielsen improved its weighting process to combine panel and Big Data more effectively, leading to more consistent, accurate, and reliable viewing numbers.
• Hispanic Methodology Enhancement: Nielsen now combines data from two surveys—the American Community Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. Census, and the National Hispanic Enumeration Survey—to better estimate Spanish-language universe estimates. This helps the company create a more accurate and representative picture of Spanish-speaking households.
• ACR Monitored Tuning Adjustment: This update improves the method that Nielsen uses to account for differences in the sources that Nielsen’s ACR (Automated Content Recognition) providers measure versus the sources that Nielsen measures in its panel. This improves the accuracy of the sources measured from Nielsen’s ACR providers.
• Provider B Householding: Improves the model Nielsen uses to group together big data devices into individual households for one of its ACR Big Data Providers. This results in more accurate household information from that provider.

Devoncroft’s 2026 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS) of global media tech buyers has once again ranked `IP Networking & Content Delivery’ as the top media tech trend.

Reflecting the ongoing transition to IP technologies, the result marked the sixth consecutive year (and for the seventh time in eight years) that `IP Networking & Content Delivery’ was the top trend.

Devoncroft researchers noted, however, that the margin between the top trend and the second ranked trend of ‘AI / ML / GenAI’ technologies narrowed versus 2025 BBS Global Trend Index.

‘AI / ML / GenAI’ has received a ranking of second since the 2023 BBS Global Trend Index, according to Josh Stinehour in a blog post announcing the results.

“One of the key outputs from the BBS is the annual BBS Global Trend Index,” he noted. “This is a ranking of the media industry trends that are considered by technology end-user respondents the most commercially important to their businesses in the next 2-3 years. In the 2026 survey efforts, we presented BBS respondents with a list of 23 industry trends and asked them to select the one trend that is `most important’ to their business, one trend that is `second most important’ to their business, and the other trends (plural) they consider `also very important.’

The BBS is the largest annual global study of media technology industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of technology vendor brands.

REMI came in number three, followed by multiplatform content delivery and automated operations, rounding out the top five.

The study reported the following ranking:

More data and information from the study is available here.

Check out TV Tech's extensive IP and Networking coverage here.

NEW YORK—MS Now has unveiled plans to launch its first direct-to-consumer service, which it is calling MS Now Membership, on Wednesday, Sept. 9 for a monthly subscription price of $7.99.

In releasing the launch date and some programming details for the service, which parent company Versant first announced in December 2025, MS Now emphasized that the service is designed to be “an additive experience to the MS Now television and digital offerings.”

It will allow members to interact directly with the brand’s journalists, provide exclusive community features, a new roster of contributors and experts, original content, and 24/7 access to live streams and television programming.

"From the beginning, we've approached this deliberately. When we launched MS Now, our ‘We the People' campaign was never just a tagline. Our mission has always been to inform, engage and empower our audience,” said Rebecca Kutler, president of MS Now. "Our Membership is the first step in a long-term strategy to deepen our relationship with audiences in ways that build on what they already value about MS Now, while addressing what consumers told us was missing from the news experience. We will continue to research, test, and refine this experience because we want it to be something that our loyal MS Now fans genuinely love, as well as something that future fans genuinely need.”

MS Now also reported that it has had more than 3.2 billion views across YouTube and TikTok year to date and more than 80 million podcast downloads. The new service will build on its rapidly growing digital news apparatus, popular mass-market live events and its existing high levels of engagement. The typical viewer watches the network, on average, nine hours every week, the second-most hours viewed of any cable network.

The news outlet also noted that MS Now content is resonating with millions of people outside of the traditional TV landscape, with less than 10% overlap between MS NOW’s television and digital audiences, according to Comscore Content Measurement.

The MS Now Membership will be available for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually. Taxes and fees apply. Through Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET, new Members can take advantage of an introductory offer of $39.99 for the first full year of Membership

WASHINGTON—In response to ABC’s lawsuit seeking to block the FCC’s early license renewal proceedings for ABC-owned stations, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has blasted the lawsuit as “a meritless case based on their own campaign of disinformation,” and insisted that “the FCC will follow the facts and the law wherever they go.”

In a post on X, which Carr regularly uses to make policy pronouncements, the agency’s Chair once again insisted that FCC rules regarding the public interest requirements of broadcast licenses give the agency authority to regulate programming.

“All broadcasters have an obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney,” he posted. “Indeed, broadcasters made a deal with the American public—in exchange for free access to a valuable public resource (the airwaves) they agreed to meet their public interest obligations. This sets them apart from cable channels or podcasts or newspapers.”

In a video accompanying the post, he also stressed that the FCC has not made an official decision on its DEI investigation but added that the investigation must have unsettled Disney.

"We have made no decision, but now Disney has rushed to court to try to stop the FCC from moving forward," he said. "And apparently, I guess Disney must be very concerned and worried about that production."

[The video is available if you click on "see more" of the X post pasted below.]

On August 18, ABC filed a blistering First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, asking a federal court in the nation's capital to stop the controversial early broadcast license renewal proceedings ordered by the regulator.

The FCC instituted the proceeding as part of its investigation into DEI policies at the Disney and the ABC-owned stations in April, a decision that has drawn widespread condemnation from broadcasters, former FCC officials and others.

At the 2026 IBC SHow, Sept. 10-14 at the RAI Amsterdam, QuickLink will introduce StudioEdge 4K, the first 4K model in the StudioEdge lineup, and new native 4K 60fps support for StudioCall. Designed for professional production environments, StudioEdge 4K combines native 4K 60fps StudioCall ingest with NVIDIA powered AI upscaling for contributors joining from widely used communication platforms. Whether a guest connects through StudioCall, Zoom or Microsoft Teams, StudioEdge 4K enables production teams to deliver a consistent 4K output.

Also at its IBC booth, QuickLink will unveil how StudioCall contributors can now deliver native 4K 60fps when using a compatible video device, allowing productions to preserve the resolution and frame rate of a caller’s native 4K source. These 4K feeds can be output from StudioEdge 4K over 4K SDI and NDI, providing seamless integration into modern broadcast and live production workflows.

For contributors joining through platforms where native 4K is not available, StudioEdge-4K uses NVIDIA-powered AI Upscaling to intelligently enhance HD video to 4K. This enables production teams to maintain a consistent high-resolution output while continuing to connect guests through familiar communication platforms.

StudioEdge-4K gives broadcasters, media organizations and enterprise users a flexible way to incorporate remote contributors into professional 4K workflows, combining native 4K contribution, NVIDIA-powered AI video enhancement and professional 4K SDI and NDI connectivity, the company said.

QuickLink will be in 7.C19 at the RAI Amsterdam.

OSLO, Norway—Live production tech provider Appear ASA has successfully completed a demonstration with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP) that showed how a full multi-camera remote live production can be delivered reliably over bonded 5G cellular and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity without relying on fixed internet infrastructure.

"Remote production continues to transform the economics of live broadcasting, but until now its benefits have often depended on access to dedicated network infrastructure," said Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO, Appear. "This proof of concept demonstrates that broadcasters can reliably extend those same production models to remote venues using bonded 5G cellular and LEO satellite connectivity. By combining our unique, hardware-accelerated SRT technology with the flexibility of the X Platform, we're helping customers rethink how and where live production can be deployed."

The proof of concept successfully demonstrated a complete REMI production workflow, transporting four live HD camera feeds from a remote racecourse to TRP's production facility while simultaneously returning two HD programme feeds back to the venue over the same bonded network, Appear reported.

The successful outcome also demonstrated how broadcasters can extend high-quality remote production to locations where dedicated fiber or fixed connectivity is unavailable, creating new opportunities to deliver live coverage from geographically dispersed venues while reducing operational complexity, Appear explained.

TRP, the production arm of Racing Victoria, delivers live horse racing coverage from 51 regional racecourses across the Australian state of Victoria.

Of these, 20 – together with the state's metropolitan venues – benefit from access to high-quality wired connectivity that makes REMI possible; the remaining 31 regional racecourses do not. With TRP planning to centralize its production resources, the organisation wanted to determine whether broadcast-grade REMI production could be achieved at these remote racecourses using cost-effective bonded cellular and LEO connectivity.

Working closely with TRP, Appear deployed its compact X5 platform at the racecourse and an X20 at the production centre to validate the workflow.

Four live HD camera feeds were encoded in HEVC and transported using Appear's unique, industry-leading hardware-accelerated SRT technology across bonded 5G cellular and LEO satellite networks.

At the production center, the X20 decoded the incoming feeds for live production while simultaneously encoding and returning two HD programme feeds to the racecourse, enabling complete two-way production and communications throughout the event.

Once production was complete, the finished programme was reviewed by TRP and Racing Victoria, produced end-to-end as though it were a live broadcast.

The proof of concept was conducted across two separate racecourse locations, including a more remote venue where heavy rain and challenging weather conditions tested the resilience of the workflow. Across both sessions, all four camera feeds and two return feeds were delivered successfully, with no video quality issues reported and no operator intervention required, demonstrating the robustness of Appear's hardware-accelerated SRT transport and the viability of broadcast-grade remote production over bonded cellular and LEO connectivity, the companies reported.

Unlike traditional contribution solutions limited to a single programme feed, the Appear X5 simultaneously transported four live camera feeds and two return feeds within a single compact platform. Combined with Appear's hardware-accelerated SRT technology, the deployment delivered reliable, low-latency transport while maintaining broadcast-quality video across variable network conditions. The same platform can also be reconfigured via software to support JPEG XS workflows over high-bandwidth IP networks, allowing broadcasters to use a common platform across both remote and metropolitan production environments.

"For us, this wasn't simply about proving that the technology works; it was about validating a new way of producing live racing from some of our most remote venues," said Charles Cole, engineering and technical operations manager, Thoroughbred Racing Productions. "The success of these trials has given us confidence that multi-camera REMI production over bonded cellular and satellite connectivity is a practical option for our regional racecourses. It opens the door to centralising production resources while maintaining the quality, reliability and operational standards our live coverage demands."

The North Carolina Association Of Broadcasters Inc and Wake Technical Community College’s Broadcast Technology Academy have announced that they’ve received a donation of a fully functioning ENG van from Nexstar Media Group, Inc.’s CBS 17 (WNCN).

The van will be incorporated into the RF Transmission Technician course at the Broadcast Technology Academy, they reported.

The gift also opens up the possibility of additional broadcast classes by the BTA.

In announcing the donation on LinkedIn, NCAB thanked WNCN vice president/GM John Lewis for “leading this gift and Chief Engineer Ryan Gladson and Broadcast Engineer Mary Cobbs, a Wake Technical Community College graduate" for their help in making the donation possible.

As the NBA gears up for the start of the 2026-2027 season on October 20, a new study from Guideline shows that NBA ad revenue hit a record $2.1 billion in the 2025-2026 season.

This growth was helped out by a 39% year-over-year spike in ad revenue during the NBA Finals, with ad spend rising from $183 million to $256 million for five games.

Overall, the regular season generated $870 million in revenue, while the playoffs brought in $1 billion.

Guideline also reported that streaming was up 8,481% YoY, rising to a 41% share in spending, the highest of any league ever recorded.

In addition, streaming-simulcast estimated revenue was also up 3,303% YoY, rising from $10 million in 24/25 compared to $347 million in 25/26.

However the linear ad spend declined 19% YoY, as spending from Warner Bros. Discovery shifted to Peacock and Amazon.

In contrast, playoff spending grew across every round, led by the play-in round, which was up 54% YoY.

William F. Rasmussen, the visionary who co-founded ESPN, has died at age 93 from Parkinson’s Disease.

In 1978, Rasmussen, a former sports broadcaster and public relations executive, and his son Scott started investigating satellite delivery of television. On a Friday afternoon in August 1978, he and Scott were stuck in traffic on Connecticut’s Interstate 84 while travelling to the New Jersey shore. They were discussing possible programming for their newly acquired satellite transponder from RCA. On a lark, Rasmussen blurted out the idea of creating a network devoted only to sports. Sports fans both, father and son instantly thought they had a great idea.

In time, their idea grew from a service showing Connecticut sports to state residents to a 24-hour national sports network. Bolstered by financial backing from the Getty Oil Co., a contract for programming with the NCAA and an advertising agreement with Anheuser-Busch – then the largest sponsorship deal in cable history – the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (changed to ESPN, Inc. in 1984) launched in 1.4 million homes at 7 p.m. ET on Sept. 7, 1979.

In July 1979, Rasmussen was named ESPN chairman, succeeded as president by Chet Simmons, formerly president of NBC Sports. In addition to “SportsCenter,” under Rasmussen’s leadership the network introduced around-the-clock sports programming and coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in the spring of 1980.

From its beginning in Bristol, Conn., with about 80 employees at launch working in one, unfinished building on less than an acre, ESPN has grown to employ more than 5,900 people around the world, providing eight U.S. television networks and the sports programming on ABC.

Rasmussen was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Lois, in 2011 and is survived by two sons – Scott Rasmussen and his wife Laura and Glenn Rasmussen – his daughter Lynn Van Hollebeke and her husband Louie, seven grandchildren, Andy, P.J., Wil, MaryAnn, Donna, Jessica and Sarah, one great grandson, Otto, and one great granddaughter, Adelaide.

After publicly disclosing his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis in 2019, Rasmussen became an ambassador for Parkinson’s patients through both the American Parkinson Disease Association and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to https://www.apdaparkinson.org.

SÃO PAULO—TVU Networks and DTV Innovations have formed a strategic technology integration aimed at giving broadcasters an efficient and scalable alternative to traditional satellite distribution and are showcasing their solution here at SET Expo 2026, Aug. 17-20, at Distrito Anhembi.

The solution directly responds to an industry-wide demand for modernized, highly efficient IP distribution architectures.

In March 2026, TVU Networks announced a partnership with Reuters to execute a phased migration from satellite to a cloud-native, IP-based live news distribution model powered by TVU MediaHub and TVU NOC.

The TVU and DTV Innovations integration extends this same cloud-first methodology to the receiver edge, traditionally the segment most dependent on fixed hardware and satellite infrastructure.

The integration aligns directly with TVU's ongoing strategic push to establish IP as the primary broadcast distribution architecture. The FCC’s recent vote to recover 160 MHz of additional C-band spectrum for 5G/6G use has accelerated broadcast strategies toward resilient, redundant, cloud-based IP distribution models delivering operational savings.

The joint architecture seamlessly bridges key points across the signal distribution workflow, including edge reception and conversion, native ecosystem integration and cloud-based routing and multi-point delivery.

DTV Innovations provides professional receiver hardware deployed at affiliate stations, regional broadcasters or remote sites. A dedicated Software Development Kit (SDK) supporting TVU's proprietary ISX protocol is embedded directly into DTV Innovations decoders. Signals are fed into TVU MediaHub, TVU's cloud routing platform, enabling flexible point-to-multipoint distribution from a single source to multiple destinations at the same time.

The joint architecture eliminates reliance on legacy routing hardware, enables broadcasters to scale receiver endpoints dynamically, and reduces transport and operating costs.

See TVU Networks and DTV Innovations in the CIS Group SET Expo booth, number 38A.

More information is available on the TVU Networks, DTV Innovations and CIS Group websites.

NEW YORK—Nielsen’s June 2026 reports of The Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge reveal that the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup 2026 drove remarkable audience engagement with over 84 billion minutes viewed across Fox and NBCUniversal properties.

That viewing also pushed both distributors to June's only viewing increases in the Media Distributor Gauge.

Meanwhile, the combination of World Cup matches and NBA Finals games helped drive a 118% increase in broadcast sports viewing, and led the broadcast category to 19.8% of TV and its first increase during a June interval (+0.6 share pts.) since the inception of The Gauge in 2021.

According to the June Media Distributor Gauge, Fox exhibited the largest gain in share of TV (+0.9 pts.) compared to May, and the largest overall viewing increase among all distributors this month (+18%). The World Cup surge boosted viewing on Fox affiliates by 73%, and Fox Sports 1 was up 232%. FOX concluded the month with 7.4% of total TV watch-time and moved up to No. 5 in the Media Distributor Gauge rankings.

NBCU-Versant represented 9.1% of total TV viewing in June (+0.7 share pts.). That success, the researchers reported, was a result of two drivers: NBCU’s Telemundo served as the exclusive home to all Spanish-language World Cup coverage, which drove a 143% monthly viewing increase to its broadcast affiliates in June. Peacock also benefited from Telemundo’s World Cup coverage, as days with games exhibited a 60% audience increase on the platform over those that did not, and viewing from Hispanic audiences increased nearly 200% compared to the prior month.

Peacock’s 34% total monthly viewing increase was also due to owning June’s most-streamed title, “Love Island USA.” The six-night-per-week appointment viewing for the reality dating series generated 6.8 billion minutes across the month. Overall, Peacock gained half a share point to represent 2.3% of total TV viewing in June, its second-best share of TV to date behind February 2026.

Overall streaming usage was up about 3% compared to May, but due to it being just below the 3.1% increase for total TV usage, the category dropped back 0.1 share point to 48.5% of TV watch-time.

In addition to Peacock, several other streamers also saw monthly viewing increases, including YouTube, Netflix, The Roku Channel and Paramount Streaming (Paramount+ and Pluto TV combined), but similar to the overall streaming category, their shares were flat or down slightly. However, YouTube remained in the lead among media distributors with 13.8% of time spent.

Disney held on to the No. 2 spot among media companies with 9.6% of TV. ABC’s coverage of the five-game NBA Finals showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and eventual champion New York Knicks helped drive a 15% viewing bump for ABC affiliates in June. Each game of the series was the most-viewed broadcast telecast on days played, and Games 3, 4 and 5 were the most watched telecasts over the June interval with more than 20 million viewers a piece.

Cable represented 19.5% of television in June (-0.9 pts.) as viewing was down 2% compared to May. This was largely due to the absence of the NBA and NHL playoffs, which led to a 10% monthly decline in cable sports viewership.

Due to the fact that advertising sales for Versant are still retained by NBCUniversal, and to preserve data trends and insights in these reports, NBCU and Versant are reported together in the Media Distributor Gauge with each company’s respective share included in the Media Distributor Gauge chart.

The June 2026 interval spanned four weeks, from 06/01/2026 through 06/28/2026. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.

WASHINGTON—ABC has filed a blistering First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, asking a federal court in the nation's capital to stop the controversial early broadcast license renewal proceedings ordered by the regulator.

The FCC instituted the proceeding as part of its investigation into DEI policies at the Disney and the ABC-owned stations in April, a decision that has drawn widespread condemnation from broadcasters, including the NAB, the FCC’s lone Democrat Commissioner Anna Gomez, free speech advocates, 13 former FCC officials, some conservative groups and the public. Around 95% of 153,318 comments filed in the proceeding have been in support of the license renewals.

“All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney. The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year,” an FCC spokesperson told TheWrap. “Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead.”

As part of the lawsuit, which was filed with U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case #26-cv-2902), ABC also filed a motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction on August 18.

In the motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, ABC said that “This case boils down to a simple question: can the Administration use its control over the federal regulatory apparatus to punish a media organization for editorial decisions and news coverage it dislikes? Because the First Amendment provides a clear answer—of course not—this Court’s intervention is necessary to stop the Federal Communications Commission’s extraordinary assault on free speech.”

In the full complaint, ABC stressed that “Government censorship is deeply un-American. That fundamental principle predates the Republic, with our Founders recognizing that “the freedom of the press is one of the great[est] bulwarks of liberty.’ And it is no less true today, as the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed only two years ago: the government may not `use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.’ This case concerns the Administration’s sustained effort to do just that. Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”

Citing social media posts from President Donald Trump and a long list of comments by the president and FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the complaint also alleges that the retaliatory campaign “began in this Administration’s earliest days and has only intensified since. Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech—the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air. Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

“Facing this existential threat, Plaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration’s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech,” the complaint said. “Plaintiffs come to this Court reluctantly with no alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the Administration’s demands.”

The Complaint also detailed how the FCC’s actions created “irreparable harm,” both to the company and the media industry.

“The pressure exerted by the Administration’s mounting campaign of retaliation against ABC has been deeply felt throughout the company,” the complaint said. “The campaign is also calculated to operate in terrorem upon the rest of the industry: ABC is the visible target and suffers the most immediate harm, but the message is addressed to every broadcaster in the country, and the ultimate cost is borne by the press as a whole.”

In addition, “the FCC’s demand for early renewal applications reveals its intent to either hold a hearing to deny the applications or simply to subject Plaintiffs to months—and likely years—of onerous litigation and regulatory uncertainty. Either way, the agency succeeds at continuing to punish Plaintiffs.”

In a separate motion, ABC argued that the “Court should grant Plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order preventing the Commission from taking any further action with respect to its retaliatory early renewal application order and enter a preliminary injunction that halts the early renewals proceedings—and associated threats of revocation in response to ABC’s protected editorial discretion—pending the resolution of this case.”

In response to the complaint, Commissioner Gomez said in a statement that “for months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like. I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up. This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”

“I am hopeful that this will mark the beginning of the end of this administration’s disregard for the Constitution and the law, and that the coming months will bring the costly legal defeat this agency has been asking for since it started down this path,” she added. “It is time this administration understands that the Constitution does not bend to political convenience, and that the First Amendment protects the news and commentary Americans see on their screens even when those in power wish it didn’t.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation chief of advocacy Seth Stern said, "t’s about time for someone to take Carr and his FCC to court over their endless campaign of intimidation and retaliation against journalism that displeases Carr’s thin-skinned boss. No matter what pretexts he asserts, Carr’s modus operandi is clear: to serve as Trump’s censorship czar and abuse his office to repeatedly and exclusively target Trump’s perceived adversaries in the media, whether through sham proceedings or threatening letters and X posts. Carr knows the FCC is not the journalism police and said so regularly himself before he decided to throw away any integrity he once had to kiss up to Trump. Countless others whose First Amendment rights have been chilled by Carr’s antics should follow Disney’s lead.”

David Inserra, a fellow for free expression and technology at the Cato Institute said in a statement that "the current FCC has repeatedly used its power over broadcast speech to jawbone, punish, and threaten censorship of its political opponents. Today's lawsuit by ABC Disney against the FCC directly challenges the broad and abusive powers that Congress and prior court decisions gave the FCC. No government agency should ever be empowered to restrict free expression based on what it thinks is fair, equal, or in the best interest of the public. In a world where the American people and press can speak through print, broadcast, cable, satellite, internet, and other forms of media, there is no justification for the FCC to continue to wield such significant power over broadcast speech."

[More comments will be added as they come in.]

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has entered into a Consent Decree with Corridor Television that will see the broadcaster pay $27,000 to resolve an investigation into its failure to participate in nationwide tests of the Emergency Alert System and various violations of its EAS filing requirements.

The FCC is calling the payment to the U.S. Treasury a “voluntary contribution” rather than a fine and the payment is much less than the $369,190 the regulator had originally proposed. As part of the settlement, Corridor agreed to implement a compliance plan to avoid future violations.

Corridor is the licensee of TV station KCWX in Fredericksburg, Texas; 100% of Corridor’s voting interests are held by Global Information Technologies, Inc., a privately held company based in Texas, which is wholly owned by Saleem Tawil and Carmen Tawil.

The investigation stems from a complaint received by the FCC in August 17, 2021 that alleged the station misrepresented its handling and deployment of three Nationwide Tests of the EAS, and violated multiple Commission rules.

The Complaint also alleged that Corridor installed improper EAS equipment, which contributed to its failure to participate as required in the national EAS tests.

Following an investigation by the Bureau, on January 8, 2025, the Commission issued a Notice of Apparent Liability, which proposed a total forfeiture of $369,190 for “Corridor’s willful and repeated violations.”

In response, Corridor provided evidence demonstrating that it lacks the ability to pay the forfeiture proposed in the NAL and provided an explanation for the stations’ violations.

That led to the negotiation of a consent decree that requires Corridor to “implement and maintain a Compliance Plan designed to ensure its future compliance with the EAS Rules” to “pay a voluntary contribution of $27,000 to the United States Treasury.”

The full Consent Decree is available here.

BALTIMORE—Carol Kellum was named vice president and general manager of Sinclair-owned KPTM Omaha, a Fox affiliate, and KHGI-KFXL Lincoln-Hastings-Kearny, Neb., an ABC-Fox duopoly.

Kellum had been general manager of KTVO Kirksville-Missouri-Ottumwa, Iowa, and KQHA Quincy, Ill.-Hannibal, Mo. Her move to Sinclair’s Nebraska operation represents a return to the company, which formerly owned KTVO and KQHA.

She replaces current VP and GM John Hannon, who will retire at the end of August.

“Carol is an experienced and accomplished broadcast leader with a strong understanding of local markets, station operations and the importance of serving viewers and advertisers across every platform,” said Rob Weisbord, chief operating officer and president of local media, Sinclair. “We are thrilled to welcome her back to Sinclair and know her leadership will be a tremendous asset to our teams in Omaha and Lincoln-Kearney. We also thank John for his years of dedicated service and leadership and wish him all the best in retirement.”

Kellum had been KTVO’s general manager for 11 years and also ran KQHA from 2008 to 2011 and again starting last September. Sinclair sold the two stations to Rincon Broadcasting Group last September.

“I’m excited to return to Sinclair,” Kellum said. “They are forward thinkers and understand the dynamic changes our industry is experiencing and will continue to experience. I look forward to working with the talented teams at KPTM, KHGI and KFXL and building on their strong commitment to the communities they serve.”

DirecTV is updating its user interface with the planned launch of Curated Multiviews, a new feature that brings together live games in a single view, scheduled around what’s on that day.

DirecTV noted that Curated Multiviews are currently rolling out to customers and will be available to eligible customers by August 27.

Each Multiview features live games from networks already included in a customer's package, laid out together and ready to watch. When a Multiview is available for the game a user is watching, that viewer will see a “Multiview” button in the video player.

Users will only see Multiviews for networks included in their packages and games available in their areas.

DirecTV said that its sports team curates each of these Multiview around two ideas: marquee matchups fans may want to follow together and themed slates built around the day’s action.

That could mean an SEC Saturday lineup one weekend or a collection of NFL games airing across CBS and FOX on Sunday, the operator explained.

DirecTV noted that the Curated Multiviews aren’t replacing existing Mix Channels. Those always-on channels bring together a set lineup of live networks in one place, making it easy to keep an eye on sports, news, weather and more.

Curated Multiviews work differently. Instead of occupying a permanent spot in the channel guide, they’re built around specific live sporting events. A Multiview appears when the action starts and wraps up when the games do, with program titles and artwork that make it easy to see exactly what’s playing.

DirecTV noted that Curated Multiviews are currently rolling out to customers and will be available to eligible customers by August 27. As the experience becomes available, users will find Multiviews on the Sports Central carousels.

WASHINGTON—The Motion Picture Association and the Chinese tech giant ByteDance have reached Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a shared framework to protect intellectual property on generative AI video and image models like Seedance and Seedream, which is offered by TikTok, the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, CapCut, Dreamina and others.

ByteDance founded and is the owner of TikTok outside the U.S.; it currently owns 19.9% of the social media platform’s U.S. business. It launched Seedance 2.0 in February of 2026 and the first iterations of Seedream in 2025.

In February the MPA, which is backed by the U.S. studios and major streaming players, sent a cease and desist letter to ByteDance in connection with Seedream 5.0 Lite and Seedance 2.0.

That led to “constructive conversations” between ByteDance and the MPA, the two parties said.. More recently, the launches of Seedream 5.0 Pro and Seedance 2.5 have reflected improved IP protections.

“Today’s agreement illustrates our belief that copyright is a cornerstone of the film and television industry – and reinforces our commitment to protect creative content,” said MPA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin. “For the past several months, we have had constructive engagement with ByteDance to implement meaningful guardrails on Seedance and Seedream, and this MOU reflects our shared determination to continue our work together to further fortify those guardrails.”

“ByteDance respects the intellectual property rights that underpin creative industries around the world, and we believe responsible innovation in AI goes hand in hand with meaningful protections for rightsholders,” said John Rogovin, general counsel, ByteDance. “We appreciate the productive engagement with the MPA and its members as we continue to strengthen safeguards across our generative AI services. This MOU establishes an important framework for continued collaboration as the technology evolves, across a variety of products and platforms.”

The MOU is an important step forward in establishing that IP can and should be protected in the generative AI space, and it formalizes meaningful progress in recent months to further strengthen safeguards on ByteDance’s platforms, the MPA said.

The MPA’s member studios are: Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

As the world of broadcast TV news moves into the AI era, station groups like Scripps are using the technology not only to help improve news coverage and viewer engagement, but also to reform and enhance how reporters and anchors spend their days—focusing on new workflows and adapting to how consumers stay informed.

That was the impetus behind Scripps Media’s announcement several weeks ago that it would adopt a “digital-first” approach to news coverage, in which it would prioritize streaming breaking news rather than waiting for scheduled daily newscasts. This approach reflects the reality of how consumers get their news—a development that is long overdue, according to Dean Littleton. Littleton recently became president of media for Scripps, combining leadership of the company’s enterprise television and broadcast operations in a newly created role.

The company plans to roll out its new process to a dozen of its smaller markets, with plans to increase deployment to all markets over time.

'We've Got to Change Our Business'
The changes were revealed at the same time the station group announced that 268 positions across the company were being eliminated. Littleton says Scripps had to make these changes, noting that core revenue across its approximately 60 local broadcast TV stations in more than 40 markets and 22 states is down 30%–50% from 20 years ago. The station group announced a nearly 5.4% drop in core revenue in its latest fiscal quarter, compared to the same quarter a year ago.

“A year ago we sat down and said, ‘We've got to change our business,’” Littleton told TV Tech. “So we took a step back and said, ‘What is our true north?’ And our true north is journalism. It's the journalism that will sustain us.

“So we looked at all of our processes and completely set about reinventing all of them with a focus on the consumer and how they consume content across broadcast, digital, streaming, and social platforms.”

Littleton says today’s news production process isn’t all that different than what it was 30 years ago and that, despite past promises to focus more on digital and streaming, broadcasters were not moving forward fast enough.

“I remember sitting in these meetings talking about strategy, and as much as we would walk out of those meetings and all say, ‘We're digital-first,’ we'd go right back to working on our 5:00, 6:00, or 10:00 newscast,” he said. “Meanwhile, the consumer left the party in large part, and that's been a mistake. I think we lost sight of the consumer.”

Littleton also wanted to move beyond the walled garden of a station news “app,” calling that approach “overly simplistic.”

He says Scripps needs to go where consumers are when it comes to news—giving them access to “journalism that's delivered on the platforms of their choosing, in formats native to that platform, and delivered on a schedule that fits the consumer's schedule.”

Littleton emphasizes that Scripps is increasing its focus on local news despite the recent layoffs by tapping into new AI processes that automate more of the production process.

“We are essentially reallocating resources from the production of newscasts to the development of journalism,” he said. “[We’re] moving resources from the process of creating the traditional newscast, and then investing in resources to create original reporting in our markets.”

Littleton says he wants to increase the number of reporters in local markets and believes Scripps will expand its local coverage rather than reduce it, as some critics have claimed.

“We'll see more reporters and MMJs, not fewer, with them having geographic beats so that they build expertise, and their stories are told with relevance and context in the communities that they serve,” he said. “And these communities that they're serving often are communities that have been 'news deserts' up until the point that we assigned a reporter.”

“At the end of this process, we'll have more MMJs and reporters overall than what we have today,” Littleton added.

Scripps has developed a new workflow to support its digital-first approach, according to Littleton.

“We've invented a whole new process for operating our newsrooms, where a story gets completed, and the story immediately goes into the live stream,” he said. “The technology that we've built constantly ‘stacks’ and ‘restacks’ the shows on the live stream, and the stories are prioritized based on tags that human beings assign to those stories, so the technology knows how to prioritize the content.

“Therefore, my experience as a consumer watching that live stream at 2:00 in the afternoon is different than it would have been at 1:00, because as new content has moved into the stream, the technology ‘restacked’ it based on priorities that human beings gave it,” Littleton added.

New Role: 'Executive Reporter'
Along with more automated production processes, Littleton also says the management of how news is handled is changing, with the creation of a new “executive reporter” role in each newsroom.

“This person leads the reporting resources inside each newsroom, they have a reporting background, and so their goal is to help improve the storytelling and the journalism, and their focus is on that all day long,” he said. “So we've had to rethink how management works in our newsrooms to support what is an entirely new workflow and process inside our buildings.”

To put the power of AI behind its new news workflow, Scripps developed its own news production platform called "Stacker," according to Christina Hartman, vice president of emerging technology operations at Scripps.

Producers working with Stacker create templates based on their focus—whether it be news, weather, business, or sports—and connects those subjects to local community concerns so news reports better reflect local issues.

“Stacker is the platform we built that is responsive to a template that a producer builds, as a reflection of the content strategy of the newsroom, whether it’s heavy on weather, leading with community connection stories, etc.,” she said. “The producer sets the template, and then Stacker as a platform will read what stories we have available and meet the criteria for slotting in the platform, and then it produces a draft or suggested rundown based on that daypart's template.

“It allows the producer to intuitively move stories around if they don't like the suggested order, or if they want to change some of the timing content, they could do that really easily through the platform,” Hartman added.

Better Use of Time
Hartman reiterated Littleton’s assessment of the need to use AI to free up a reporter’s time during the day.

“The amount of time that our reporters have been able to spend being in the field versus doing the shooting, editing, and versioning for social media and the web—the time spent actually with news gathering has shrunk, and the day has gotten longer,” she said. “We remind people that more and more of your day is going to things that aren't why you got into this business.”

Given the level of automation now involved in news production, Hartman stressed that everything aired is still approved by humans.

“Nothing is published or goes to air without human review and affirmative approval, and everything that we publish or take to air is originally reported, substantively written, and reviewed and approved by a human journalist,” she said. “What we have brought AI in to assist with are really the production components: the versioning, the metadata tagging, the sort of rough-cut edit, and the layout of the rundown in a suggested capacity. So from a guardrails point of view, it's structurally built into the process.”

As Scripp’s chief advocate for AI development within the company, Hartman shares her initial skepticism about AI, noting that when ChatGPT was launched nearly three years ago, her first thought was, ‘how do I keep this as far away from our newsroom as possible?’

“It's why I proposed forming AI governance,” she said. “So we started from sort of a ‘protective condition.’” she said. “What I found though is that if I was writing the guardrail and the rules around use of AI, I better know what I'm doing and be using it so that I can understand what the traps and the and the pitfalls were.”

Hartman responded to criticisms that Scripps is using AI as an easy way out to justify downsizing its news staffs.

“If this were purely a financial exercise, there are many other models that that I will tell you candidly would have been so much easier to pursue,” she said. “We could have dripped down to five-minute newscasts. We could have killed reporting and reporting roles, and maintained the facade of a newscast where you have talent that isn't even local, putting on the appearance of a local broadcast. But none of those alternatives would be true to Scripps’ value and Scripps’ promise to its communities.”

With a digital-first approach, a news story is not a finished product, but rather an evolving element that Littleton believes can help make viewers part of the narrative.

“What we are now seeing our newsrooms do with this process where you create a story and you immediately upload it and it goes into the stream, that happens throughout the day so viewers get to go along with the reporter as they develop a story,” he said. “[As the reporter] walks out of the newsroom, they record video that explains what their story is for the day, and as that story gets updated, those videos are created, and they go into the stream also. So the person watching at home gets to go along with the reporter as the story develops throughout the day.”

The fact that news workflow is being built around AI is not new, but technical changes are just one factor in the decision to the shift, according to Hartman, who characterized the new direction as “as much cultural as it is technological.”

SAINT PAUL, Minn.—In another example of how public broadcasters are reshaping their operations in the wake of Federal funding cuts, Twin Cities PBS will become Minnesota PBS on September 1, 2026, with the addition of KSMQ.

The change extends regional and national PBS programming to nearly 350,000 new viewers, including those in Austin, Rochester, Winona, and throughout seven southern Minnesota counties.

The transition to Minnesota PBS comes just over a year after the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting in July 2025. Without that funding, KSMQ faced the growing possibility that the station would go dark after more than 50 years on the air.

The creation of Minnesota PBS will prevent that from happening. It will preserve public media in southern Minnesota and maintain trusted news and local shows for communities throughout the region.

In addition to continuing local programs, Minnesota PBS will provide southern Minnesota viewers with dependable access to more options than ever before: regional and national PBS programming, legislative coverage, high-quality children's content from PBS KIDS, and critical health and safety alerts.

The organization will also continue programming the Minnesota Channel, a service for all public television stations in the state that has originated from Twin Cities PBS for the past two decades.

"As a public media organization, Minnesota PBS will be dedicated to reflecting and serving communities across the state while celebrating the local perspectives that make each community unique," said Sylvia Strobel, Twin Cities PBS president and CEO. "Minnesota PBS will be a trusted neighbor to every community it reaches – a welcoming and accessible local news and entertainment source that belongs to all of its viewers."

"KSMQ has informed, inspired, and strengthened the cultural fabric of the communities we serve for generations and our transition to join Minnesota PBS ensures that we will deliver trusted, local programming for years to come," said Kathleen Harrington, chair of the KSMQ Board of Directors. "We are deeply grateful for the continued support of our viewers, members, and donors. This transition honors your long history of support by ensuring ongoing access to public broadcasting for our communities."

Beginning September 1, Minnesota PBS will operate under its new name across all its broadcast channels in the expanded service area. At that time, viewers will find more information about the organization at MinnesotaPBS.org.

Until then, viewers can continue accessing current programming and services from both Twin Cities PBS and KSMQ.

More information about Minnesota PBS and the upcoming transition can be found at TPT.org/MinnesotaPBS.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair’s AMP Sports has launched “The Riverside: A Podcast on the University of Tennessee Volunteers,” the latest in its growing portfolio of local college football podcasts.

Hosted by Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer, former Volunteers quarterback Erik Ainge and national champion defensive back Fred White, “The Riverside” launches Aug. 25. The podcast will deliver insider analysis, behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive interviews and candid conversations.

Produced in partnership with Fox 17 Nashville, the video podcast will provide year-round coverage of University of Tennessee sports, with a focus on football.

Long-form episodes will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and all major podcast platforms, with new episodes released weekly.

"The Riverside" joins AMP Sport’s slate of college sports podcasts, including those dedicated to covering the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Texas Longhorns, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Michigan Wolverines.

More information is available on the Sinclair website.

PARIS and NEW YORK—Moments Labs will showcase Studio, an intuitive editing workspace with AI-based capabilities that helps production companies turn moments from their existing video catalogs into branded, publish-ready content, during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Studio closes the gap between discovering valuable moments in a video catalog and activating them at scale.

“Audiences increasingly find and follow their favorite shows on social and video-sharing platforms, yet the content that could engage them and build loyalty often remains buried in an IP owner’s archive,” said Phil Petitpont, Moments Lab CEO and co-founder. “Getting short-form content out quickly and consistently has traditionally required very manual work across multiple tools. Now, teams can find the right clips to edit, brand and publish, all without leaving Moments Lab.”

Studio brings clips into the editing workflow from Moments Lab using the company’s Discovery Agent. Teams can assemble a story, pick a one-click hook and use AI to support the rest of the process, including automatic vertical reframing, captioning, branded text and overlays. Finished clips can be published directly to social platforms, without the need for export or re-upload.

At IBC2026, Moments Lab will also unveil the latest improvements to MXT, the multimodal AI that underpins the platform’s editorial intelligence. It now understands scenes, actions and show-specific context in greater depth, while processing videos up to 50% faster.

Together, Studio and the latest AI improvements help social and digital teams move from finding the right moment, to creating and publishing branded social video in one connected workflow.

See Moments Lab at IBC 2026 stand 1.D12.

More information is available on the company’s website.

OSLO, Norway—During IBC 2026, Bridge Technologies will be showing a significant new feature option for its VB330 and VB220 compressed monitoring probes: the ability to play out transport stream (TS) files across IP networks.

The new functionality transforms the probes from passive monitoring tools into a far more comprehensive, expansive broadcast asset - allowing broadcasters to fulfil a full range of regulatory and compliance activities, as well as vastly improving their technical, operational and strategic decision making.

The company will be showing the new capabilities at Booth 1.A71 during the show between Sept. 11 and 14 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

The TS playout feature builds upon the existing recording capabilities of the probe, introduced last year and allowing for round-robin and alarm-triggered recording of up to 200 streams, with an inbuilt clip editor for export.

The new TS playout feature takes a recorded stream and plays it out to any TS receiver, supporting bitrates up to 100 Mbps per stream with up to 12 simultaneous playouts and a total throughput of 1 Gbps (or 2 Gbps with ST 2022-7 redundancy activated).

The probes support both Single Program Transport Streams (SPTS) and Multiple Program Transport Streams (MPTS), as well as both Constant Bit Rate (CBR) and Variable Bit Rate (VBR) files.

Streams can be played once or set to loop with adaptive handling to avoid continuity counter errors and can be sent to either multicast or unicast destinations. For multicast delivery, the probe can also monitor its own output using its full built-in analysis toolset. Files can be uploaded via the web interface, and recordings made by the probe can be used directly as playout sources.

This makes it invaluable for production engineers seeking to set up networks for live events, in environments where speed is of the essence.

With this signal generation feature, engineers can generate test content for live events before cameras are in place - allowing them to verify the wider network architecture ahead of time.

Crucially, the probe makes use of PTP network synchronization to achieve highly accurate playout timing – achieved at a LAB-grade standard with much lower PCR jitter than in comparable systems, thus preventing buffer synchronization issues at the receiver side and minimizing latency. This ensures accurate, error free flow along the full broadcast chain, even in environments where the network has been integrated and coordinated on an ad-hoc basis, such as when the production feeding the distribution network originates from OB trucks, temporary pop-up studios, and fast-turnaround event setups.

“Live production brings increasing challenges in terms of the speed with which the setup must be introduced, and the accuracy and reliability with which it must deliver on the day,” explained Bridge Technologies Chairman Simen K. Frostad. “With TS playout, network engineers can generate a test signal and validate their entire distribution chain ahead of time - even before cameras, switchers or encoders are in place. But we also have customers right now using this functionality not just for setup, but on-air too. It is crucial to effective operations."

"This new development in our distribution side probes marks a really important evolution in their role, placing them front and center in a broadcast engineer’s arsenal and taking them far beyond their original monitoring roots,” he continued. “It takes functions that would normally be deployed on separate devices and condenses them into a single box. This results in a single interface and a more streamlined workflow, reduced space and energy requirements, and lower operational costs. It fully reflects Bridge’s central ethos - using our unrivalled understanding of IP network behaviour and appliance engineering to deliver increasingly more functionality with increasingly less physical infrastructure”.

The inclusion of this feature reflects a broader push by the company to develop tools that go far beyond simple alarming and monitoring and instead become holistic parts of the wider broadcast chain, incorporating deep diagnostics, proactive network management, reporting and compliance, practical production tools (in the case of the VB440), and now signal generation for network and broadcast setup.

Furthermore, this expansion within the VB330 supports a wider industry trend which has seen broadcast as a whole begin to converge across compressed and uncompressed environments, eroding the distinction which once existed between production and distribution as separate arenas and disciplines.

More information about Bridge Technologies and its products is available at www.bridgetech.tv

HEBBEN BRIDGE, U.K.—Calrec has integrated its ImPulseV virtualized DSP software with NEP Platform, bringing its scalable audio processing capabilities to NEP’s growing software ecosystem.

NEP Platform is an orchestration layer that brings software applications together in a unified software-defined environment, enabling broadcasters, rightsholders, leagues and live content producers to deploy, orchestrate and scale resources up or down rapidly as production requirements evolve.

"Pairing the power of NEP’s software orchestration platform with Calrec’s ImPulseV allows NEP to offer customers virtualized audio production environments and services that best fit the needs of each production. The ability to add temporary virtualized processing resources means broadcasters can scale to support their biggest events without significant up-front hardware investment,” said Calrec director of product management Henry Goodman.

"It also simplifies technical complexity. Wherever the processing is located and however a workflow is designed, it should feel seamless to the operator. Working closely with NEP, Calrec’s ongoing ImPulseV development simplifies deployment and gives customers the freedom to build more flexible, scalable production workflows.”

Seamless blending of on-premises infrastructure with remote, virtual or hybrid operations across multiple processing environments has become an increasingly established way for media companies to generate more content. Calrec's ImPulseV DSP software gives companies the freedom to choose how they work with processing resources that flex to meet any production demand.

“NEP Platform brings those trusted applications together, making it easier to deploy, connect and manage them through a unified operational framework. Adding Calrec’s ImPulseV to the NEP Platform ecosystem further expands those choices, giving customers access to scalable, virtualized audio processing while streamlining how modern production workflows are deployed and managed. It's another example of how we're growing an open ecosystem that gives customers the flexibility to build the workflows that best meet their operational needs.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa.—PTZOptics will make the public debut of its Rise 4K broadcast pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) camera during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Rise combines cinematic 4K imaging, professional broadcast connectivity and intelligent video technology in a robotic camera designed for sports, broadcast, live events, enterprise studios, universities, houses of worship and independent productions. It gives producers a practical way to add high-quality camera angles, expand multicamera coverage and create more polished content without placing an operator at every camera position.

At the heart of Rise is a 1-inch, 50MP CMOS sensor that captures 4K UltraHD video at up to 60 fps. A 20x optical zoom and approximately 71-degree horizontal field of view provide the flexibility to move from wide establishing shots to detailed close-ups.

Phase-detect autofocus keeps subjects sharp, while optical image stabilization and smooth brushless motors support stable images and precise, natural camera movement. A built-in three-stage ND filter provides greater exposure control across changing lighting conditions.

Rise offers timecode and genlock to keep cameras precisely synchronized. FreeD support enables integration with virtual production and augmented reality systems.

Video outputs include 12G-SDI for 4K60, 3G-SDI, HDMI and USB 3.0. Network options include NDI HX, RTMP, RTSP, SRT and 12G-compatible SFP+ fiber connectivity. Rise also offers professional XLR inputs with 48V phantom power, onboard TF card recording and front and rear tally lights.

The camera ships with Horizon Web as its standard camera interface, bringing responsive camera movement, image and color adjustment, intelligent presets, tracking, auto-framing and automation into an intuitive browser-based workspace accessible from any device on the same network.

Advanced tools, including waveform, vectorscope and RGB parade, help operators adjust and match cameras with precision. Built-in AI auto-tracking maintains framing and reduces routine operator input, allowing one operator to supervise more camera positions and focus on the wider production. Rise also supports PTZOptics’ broader ecosystem of Horizon Hub desktop applications for camera control, configuration and workflow management.

See PTZOptics at IBC 2026 stand 1.B07.

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—Dalet has announced it will be participating in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Program as part of a project exploring the future of AI in sports production.

During the Program, it will be collaborating with Astro Malaysia, Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), AWS (Amazon Web Services), ITV, Google Cloud and other industry leaders on AI for Live Sports and Beyond: Rewiring Live Media via Agentic AI Orchestration and "meCast."

Located in Hall 14 at Stand 14.D25 in the Future Tech Zone, the project explores how agentic AI can automate live media workflows, enabling real-time content adaptation, personalization and new monetization opportunities for sports and other live productions.

As part of the demonstration, Dalet will showcase how its media-aware AI platform, Dalia, together with Dalet Flex and Dalet InStream, orchestrates live workflows from ingest through AI-powered analysis, compliance review and publishing, helping sports organizations accelerate production while maintaining editorial oversight and governance.

For sports organizations, broadcasters, leagues and rights holders, the ability to rapidly create, personalize and distribute live content is fundamental to enhanced audience engagement and revenue generation.

Dalet already supports sports customers with media workflows that accelerate highlight creation, content discovery, repurposing and multi-platform publishing, enabling teams and rights holders to maximize the value of every live event.

The IBC2026 Accelerator project showcases these capabilities by exploring how AI can intelligently orchestrate complex live production workflows while keeping humans in control.

The Accelerator demonstration complements Dalet's broader showcase at IBC2026, where the company will present innovations across Dalet Flex, Dalet Pyramid and Dalia, demonstrating how trusted, media-aware AI is transforming media operations from production through distribution.

Visitors to the Dalet stand will see how the latest innovations help media organizations modernize production and content supply chains, accelerate news workflows, improve content discovery, and streamline sports production through AI-assisted highlight creation, intelligent media management and automated publishing.

Attendees will also learn how Dalet's open, media-aware AI architecture enables organizations to deploy trusted AI while maintaining governance, operational control and flexibility through support for multiple large language models.

Dalet will be exhibiting at IBC2026 in Hall 7, Stand A43. For more information, visit https://www.dalet.com/events/ibc/.

CTV unified advertising platform Adte has formed a partnership with Haystack News, that will allow Adte’s brand and agency clients to access advertising inventory on the FAST platform.

Haystack News compiles clips from over 400 news providers and builds personalized "My Headlines" playlists based on one’s location, favorite topics, and preferred media sources.

“With the US political season approaching, audience demand for trusted news content continues to grow,” Adte CEO Yanir Yudovich said. “Our relationship with Haystack News further expands Adte’s premium CTV reach, enabling us to deliver highly engaged, highly relevant audiences for our advertisers."

The 2026 election cycle is expected to reach a record $11.6 billion in spending, according to advertising intelligence company AdImpact. CTV continues its ascent as the fastest-growing media channel in political advertising and is projected to reach more than $2.5 billion (23%) this year.

The partnership further expands Adte's inventory and builds on several other agreements announced earlier this year with C15 Studio’s premium FAST sports channels, Paramount+, and Major League Baseball’s MLB TV streaming service.

Through C15 Studio, Adte gained access to premium FAST sports channels F1 Channel, Yahoo! Sports Network, MotoGP Channel, DP World Tour, Triton Poker, and One Championship TV. Adte also became an approved ad serving vendor across Paramount’s entire streaming platform including Pluto TV, Paramount+ originals, first-run shows, current-season programming, and live sports broadcasts.

The company also renewed its partnership with MLB for the second year in a row. Adte purchased 15-second and 30-second midroll advertising inventory on MLB TV for Adte to make available to its wide base of advertisers.

WASHINGTON—A new Federal Communications Commission report shows that high-speed residential broadband is now more ubiquitous than ever before.

The study found that from June 2024 to June 2025, the number of Americans lacking access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service decreased by about 23%.

Over a two-year period, this reduction was approximately 43%. Today, 96.9% of Americans have access to a fixed terrestrial broadband service at 100/20 Mbps, the FCC reported.

The report also cited data showing increased competition. Twenty-three states now have more than 50% of locations served with fixed wireless at 100/20 Mbps, the FCC said.

“President Trump’s policies are delivering great results for Americans in communities all across the country,” Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. “The data show that speeds are up, prices are down, competition is stronger than before, and the digital divide has narrowed substantially. The FCC is putting policies in place that will further accelerate high-speed builds and extend U.S. leadership.”

The FCC voted Aug. 14 to adopt the agency’s annual Section 706 Report. Section 706 requires the FCC to report on “whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” This year’s report is the first spanning the current Trump Administration.

Other key findings include:

• Over a two-year period, the percentage of rural Americans lacking access to 100/20 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service decreased by over 44%. Further, with the inclusion of satellite, 100/20 Mbps rural broadband deployment is nearly universally available in rural areas.
• The number of Americans lacking access to mobile 5G with a minimum speed of 35/3 Mbps declined by over 30% over a two-year period. Today, almost 95% of American homes and businesses are covered by 5G at 35/3 Mbps speeds.
• The number of competitive options available to Americans also continues to grow. As of June 2025, 77% of Americans have access to three or more fixed services at 100/20 Mbps, and 43.4% of Americans have access to three of more fixed terrestrial services at 100/20 Mbps.

The FCC also cited data from other sources showing that speeds are up, prices are down, and competition is stronger than before:

• Speeds are Up – Wireless download speeds increased by 51% in 2025. Average upload and download speeds for fixed wireless are up 36.9% and 25.1% respectively between late 2024 and early 2026, according to Ookla data. In rural areas, those numbers show upload and download speeds rose 39.8% and 28.7% respectively.
• Actual prices for wireless service have now fallen four times more during President Donald Trump’s first 18 months in office compared to the same time under President Joe Biden. Prices are declining across the board, with postpaid unlimited plans down 10% over the last year. Fixed prices for the most popular services are down 6% over the last year.
• The percentage of homes and businesses nationwide that have three or more service options with at least 100/20 speed increased 4.85% from December 2024 to December 2025.

More data and information is available here.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil—ATSC has announced that it will highlight the latest advancements in next-generation broadcasting and international collaboration on August 17-20 at SET Expo 2026, Latin America’s largest broadcast, media and entertainment event, held annually in São Paulo, Brazil.

"SET Expo continues to be among the world’s most important gatherings for the broadcast industry,” said Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC. "This year’s show promises to be bigger than ever, and we’re pleased to showcase the innovations of our members, collaborate with international standards organizations, and engage with broadcasters and policymakers as next-generation television continues to evolve across the region."

During the show visitors are invited to meet with ATSC and its members at Booth 41.8, where demonstrations and discussions will showcase the growing momentum behind ATSC 3.0 and emerging broadcast technologies.

In ATSC’s booth, two members will have showcases:

• ETRI (the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) will be demonstrating South Korea’s Broadcast Positioning System (BPS), showing how synchronized ATSC 3.0 broadcast signals can provide resilient positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services as a terrestrial complement to satellite navigation. Based on recent laboratory and field testing in Korea, the demonstration highlights the potential for the existing ATSC 3.0 broadcast infrastructure to enhance resilience and support future critical timing and positioning applications.
• HCLTech will showcase an integrated approach to next-generation media and broadcast operations, spanning content preparation, service orchestration, subscriber engagement, and terrestrial delivery. Through its Media Workflow Manager (MWM), Video Headend Manager (VHM), Universal Video Platform (UVP), and Broadcast Core solutions, HCLTech demonstrates how broadcasters and service providers can simplify operations, accelerate service innovation, and support new business models across broadcast, IPTV, OTT, and ATSC 3.0 environments. Together, these capabilities reflect HCLTech’s Unified Core vision: a unified operational framework that helps organizations modernize with greater speed, resilience, and flexibility.

SET Expo attendees will also hear from ATSC leadership and members during the conference program.

Madeleine Noland will participate in a panel discussion with leaders from Brazil’s Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital Terrestre (SBTVD) Forum and Korea's Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA). They will examine how ATSC 3.0, the world's first IP-based digital television system, has become the foundation for multiple national implementations, including DTV+ (TV 3.0) in Brazil, UHD Broadcast in South Korea, and NEXTGEN TV in the United States.

Panelists will also discuss the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding among ATSC, the SBTVD Forum, and TTA to advance technical recommendations and standards that promote international interoperability for next-generation broadcast products and services, and how continued global cooperation is helping shape the industry. The session takes place on August 18 at 15:40 in room 1 of the Anhembi Convention Center I & II.

David Starks of AdCore Local will present on Broadcast-to-Everything (B2X), an emerging ATSC initiative that is designed to more closely integrate ATSC broadcast/multicast delivery with 3GPP mobile networks and devices.

His session will explore how broadcasters and mobile network operators can work together to deliver free-to-air television and data services at scale, leveraging converged broadcast and broadband infrastructure to improve spectrum efficiency, reduce network congestion, and create new opportunities for mobile content delivery and interactive services. Joining him will be Seshadri Venkiteshwaran from Freestream Technologies to provide an update on Direct-to-Mobile activities in India as that country prepares to launch commercial services. This session is scheduled for August 19 at 14:20 in room 3 of the convention center.

ATSC will host a reception bringing together government officials, regulators, broadcasters, and industry leaders from across Latin America. The reception will provide an opportunity to exchange perspectives on the future of broadcasting, foster regional partnerships, and discuss the role of open standards in enabling innovation and public service.

Noland said Latin America continues to be a region full of possibilities and SET Expo remains a premier forum for technology leaders, broadcasters, regulators, and innovators to collaborate on the industry's next chapter. “For ATSC,” she said, “the event provides an unparalleled opportunity to strengthen regional partnerships, showcase the growing momentum behind ATSC 3.0, and engage with the organizations driving the evolution of multimedia.”

More information is available at www.ATSC.org.