Futuresource Consulting’s post-NAB 2026 report has concluded that the long-discussed convergence of pro AV and broadcast is no longer a trend but an established reality, with enterprise clients now expecting broadcast-quality output from pro AV budgets and pro AV teams.

The report, co-authored by Helen Matthews, senior market analyst, pro video & broadcast at Futuresource, points to attendance figures as an early indicator of the shift. Corporate media professionals at NAB 2026 numbered more than 13,000 – almost double the 2025 figure – and NAB introduced a dedicated Enterprise Video Strategies track for the first time. Overall attendance reached just over 58,000, up from 55,000 in 2025, with representation from 146 countries and 132 first-time exhibitors among a total of more than 1,100.

The report identifies IP networking as the primary technical enabler of convergence, with IPMX momentum at the show confirming what Futuresource describes as a clear industry goal – creating a seamless bridge between pro AV and broadcast environments. SMPTE 2110 workflows, previously the preserve of broadcast production infrastructure, are now being specified and supported by enterprise AV teams.

The report cites product launches on the show floor as evidence of how vendor strategies are responding – pointing to Shure’s DCA 901, a compact digital broadcast microphone array designed to deliver eight channels over a single network cable with native REMI workflow support, as an example of a traditionally pro AV manufacturer now pitching directly into broadcast applications.

Virtual production is identified as another area where the boundaries have shifted materially. Tools that originated in film production – LED volumes, real-time compositing, camera tracking – are being packaged and priced for organisations with no post-production team or broadcast engineering resource, with Sony’s virtual production showcase at NAB cited as an explicit illustration of that direction.

The report also outlines where the challenge now sits. Matthews said the gap between a brief that says conference room and a client expectation of broadcast studio is where integration expertise is being tested, and that pro AV integrators who understand broadcast signal chains, IP video standards and production switching infrastructure are in a fundamentally different advisory position to those who do not.

Download the report here.

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Installation.

LONDON—The number of corporations adopting professional video production is quickening, creating a fast-growing market for broadcast tech and pro audio-visual (AV) vendors that can tap into the right strategy to reach new buyers.

This is according to a new report, “Lights, Camera, Enterprise!,” from Futuresource Consulting that reveals that 89% of companies are now producing video content in-house. Sales of broadcast-grade video cameras to corporate users tripled between 2019 and 2023, while large-sensor camcorder shipments have skyrocketed by 487% since 2019. A major factor in this growth is Gen Z reshaping expectations, with over 60% of professionals aged 22–26 actively creating video content for online consumption, the researcher said.

“The convergence of traditional broadcast and enterprise video is happening at a rapid pace,” said Alistair Johnston, Head of Consulting and Advisory at Futuresource Consulting. “Whether they see their products and services as professional, ‘prosumer’, or pro AV, vendors need to grasp enterprise as a huge opportunity. It’s the growth engine for the next decade of professional video.”

Emerging as a core strategic tool for marketing, sales, corporate events, internal communications and training, professional video production is now commonplace across retail, finance, healthcare, education, house of worship, and other non-media industry sectors. The report shows a surge in demand for professional-grade cameras, editing software and live production tools.

“High quality video has become the norm for business, driven by lower equipment costs, digital fluency and the continued evolution of hybrid working,” said David Lawrence, Managing Director at Platform Communications. “This is the moment for tech vendors to ensure they have a marketing and communications strategy that will properly engage new audiences and drive sales.”

The report notes that in the retail sector alone, 42% of enterprises will be producing their own external marketing videos by 2025, creating both short and long content for the web and social media platforms. Meanwhile, many leading retailers are operating their own advanced video production studios, according to the researcher.

The report details some of the factors that differentiate enterprise video from traditional broadcast such as the importance of results over technical details, the importance of tailoring production to specific audiences, hiring the right integrators who understand vertical markets, and the use of real-world case studies and data driven insight to build trust and visibility.

The report is available here.

HERTFORDSHIRE, U.K.—Broadcast control platforms have seen a solid increase in the last year, with one of the main reasons being the emergence of IP networks, according to a new report from FutureSource Consulting.

The global revenues of broadcast control platforms in 2018 came just short of $88 million, a 3% increase in value, per FutureSource’s findings. The number of complex IP projects served as a solid source for this gross. Expecting the construction of new facilities in emerging markets and the growing live sports segment, FutureSource projects broadcast control systems’ market value to surpass $103 million by Fiscal Year 2023.

Europe and North America were the value leaders, with each region seeing a 3% growth year-over-year in 2018. However, the largest growth was in the APAC region, which saw 6%. FutureSource notes that this is in part because they had a lower base as a result of limited level of IP adoption, but continued growth is expected with the addition of new IP facilities.

Broadcast control solutions can be broken down into two categories—“single vendor” and “vendor agnostic.” Vendor agnostic systems are designed to integrate products from multiple different manufacturers. These systems are growing in popularity, accounting for 52% of the revenue in 2018, with the expectation that it will continue to take market share from single vendor systems.

While not directly impacting the broadcast control market, 4K and other high resolution systems do require high bandwidth, which is causing some customers to go with IP architectures.

“4K is therefore one of the drivers toward IP adoption, opening the door for more complex and expensive broadcast control solutions,” said Adam Cox, senior analyst, imaging & pro video at FutureSource. “18% of broadcast control installations were 4K in FY18.”

For more information, access the full report here.

HERTFORDSHIRE, England—2018 was a banner year for worldwide TV shipments, according to a market report from Futuresource Consulting, earning the highest rate of growth for the decade at 6%.

In total, 227 million TV units were shipped worldwide in 2018, equating to a trade value of $85 billion. Futuresource identified a number of factors that contributed to this surge, including the drop in prices for technologies like 4K and a rise in production in South East Asia.

“Despite some localized macro-economic problems, which have caused significant shipment fluctuations for several countries, the world view is positive,” said Futuresource Consulting Senior Market Analyst Matthew Rubin.

TV shipments in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have helped lay the groundwork for this growth, as many households are upgrading their primary TVs. This has helped make up for flat or declining shipment numbers in Western Europe and North America; Eastern Europe, however, saw a 6% increase. While North America was essentially flat (a decrease of 0.1% in units shipped) it still saw shipments of more than 42 million units, which is close to its peak of 2011.

4K UHD TV shipments are expected to command more than half the market in 2019 as there is increasing standardization in TV sets 40-inches and above. Futuresource forecasts that the global installed base for 4K UHD TVs will exceed 960 million by the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, the next bump in resolution, 8K, is just about ready to start taking off. Shipments for 8K sets are expected to be just 0.1% of the market in 2019, but likely to see a growth to 2% by 2023. While Samsung and Sharp have been the major proponents for 8K models, most brands are likely to soon offer an 8K set of their own, while 8K content availability is also expected to make progress, though still with a ways to go.

“Barriers to uptake will begin to fall away and 8K will grow to form a significant part of the premium market by 2023,” Rubin said.

Although the U.S. video and TV industry saw a meager 1 percent growth in consumer spending in 2018, the small uptick masks a “seismic” shift in how viewers consume television, according Futuresource Consulting.

That shift is being driven by several phenomenons, according to the market researcher: The increasing presence of connected devices, the rise of subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, and perhaps most importantly, the increasing consolidation in the media industry that is being driven by these changes.

“There’s no doubt that 2018 was a significant year for the US video and TV industries,” comments David Sidebottom, Principal Consultant at Futuresource Consulting. “The entertainment landscape was redefined with companies changing their strategies and undergoing some major M&A activity. Disney’s proposed acquisition of Fox and confirmation of its direct-to-consumer service, Disney+, along with the completion of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, were key moments in a turbulent twelve months. Internationally, Comcast’s acquisition of Sky brings two like-minded companies together, both considered to have best-in-class pay-TV service offerings. It also provides Comcast with wider geographical reach and entry into key European markets. Such acquisitions and collaboration will help redefine customer relationships and play a pivotal role in the battle for the living room, but the dust isn’t going to settle any time soon.”

But despite the ongoing consolidation, Futuresource expects the market will become more fragmented, something that Sidebottom attributes to increasing concerns about private data.

“Many consumers don’t like the idea of relying solely on one company to control the living room and smart home,” says Sidebottom. “They may feel uncomfortable with a single brand being responsible for so much of their personal data. As a result, the wider sector will stay competitive, but there will no doubt be further consolidation. Those with big aspirations of becoming super aggregators of services will need deep pockets and the determination to evolve beyond entertainment.”

The strength of SVOD is reflected in the fact that, for the first time ever, SVOD revenues exceeded video rental and purchase revenues for the first time. Futuresource predicts that SVOD revenues will have risen 30 percent in 2018 while it expects a 2 percent decline in pay-TV revenues for 2018 to $97 billion. Futuresource says pay-TV will continue to play a significant role for the near future, however, accounting for more than two-thirds of total entertainment spending through 2022.

Futuresource also thinks the TV set will continue to be a key driver in streaming adoption. “Despite the growth in second screen viewing, the TV screen remains the preferred viewing platform for premium streaming services,” the researcher said. 

HERTFORDSHIRE, U.K.—New research from Futuresource Consulting projects more than 100 million 4K UHD televisions will be sold worldwide this year, returning consumer demand for TVs to positive growth.

According to the consultancy’s latest “Worldwide TV Market Report,” the recovery of several markets is linked to 4K UHD models, which are expected to lift trade value by 5 percent, or $85 billion. “Consumers increasingly want larger screens, and this is playing nicely into the 4K UHD proposition,” said David Tett, market analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

Last year, China and the United States saw fall offs in TV sales, but a significant mix of large screens and 4K UHD sets will turn around the declines in 2018. More than 75 percent of sets sold in the two markets this year will be over 40 inches, said Tett. Interest in 4K UHD is growing in Western Europe as well. The consultancy projects that by 2022, 44 percent of households in Western Europe will own 4K UHD sets.

High dynamic range is also becoming a factor on the 4K UHD landscape. Some 60 percent of 4K UHD sets sold this year will include HDR. While HDR10 is the most commonly found solution, HDR10+, HLG, Advanced HDR and Dolby Vision are also available and creating some confusion among consumer, said the report.

[Read: 2018 To Mark Starting Point For 8K Displays: IHS Markit]

With the installed base of 4K UHD sets growing, viewers are tuning into 4K content. There has been “a significant step up in the proportion of 4K UHD TV owners who say they have watched this content at home,” said Tett. The growth is not solely stemming from an increasing number of SVOD subscribers accessing 4K content, but also from the “growing choice of content” on linear TV, he said.

The growing appetite for 4K UHD sets and content isn’t the only trend Futuresource noted. Large vendors vying for premium TV sales are incorporating voice assistant technology into their sets. Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa technology is being built into sets from LG, Hisense, TCL and Vizio, and Samsung will use its own Bixby assistant in 2018 QLED sets.

Another trend is the use of QLED or OLED display tech in larger screen sets. “The two largest TV vendors are currently on opposing sides. Samsung is the driving force behind QLED, and LG is OLED’s primary backer,” said Tett. The consultancy forecasts 41 percent CAGR between 2018 and 2022 for these display technologies, which translates into about 8 million sets shipping with OLED or QLED in 2022.

More information is available on the Futuresource Consulting website.

HERTFORDSHIRE, UK--Global consumer spending on entertainment content—including TV, video, music and games—will reach $439 billion by 2021, according to a new report from From Futuresource Consulting. The trend, outlined in the U.K. research firm's “Global Entertainment Content Outlook” is fueled by the use of smartphones, and represents a 17 percent increase over 2017 spending levels.

Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, are rapidly dominating the home video entertainment sector, including DVD, Blu-ray, VoD, SVoD, and EST (Electronic Sell-Through). While this sector was just 13% of consumer home video spending in 2013, by the end of 2017, SVoD alone comprised almost half of the $42 billion spent worldwide.

Global SVoD subscription spending, estimated at $19 billion in 2017, is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% between 2017 and 2021, when it will account for 70 percent of total home video spending, largely due to households taking multiple services.

[Read: The Top 10 Tech Trends For 2018: Juniper Research]

Yet, SVoD still pales when compared to PayTV, which is a $200 billion global market, with U.S. spending alone accounting for half. The Futuresource report identifies bundling PayTV services with broadband/telephony, the early availability of premium content, and access to exclusive fare like sports as key factors driving its appeal.

For consumers that want to bundle their own TV content, services like Hulu, YouTube, Sony PlayStation, DirecTV and Xfinity had sold 4.8 million PayTV Lite subscriptions in the U.S. by 2017, and the trend continues.

Since offering compelling content is key to driving consumer spending on entertainment video services, the report indicates that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are on the rise, and cites Comcast’s bid for Sky and Disney’s move to acquire 21 Century Fox as evidence that global media conglomerates are seeking to broaden their audience and market reach. And, all combined, the FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) companies are expected to spend $20 billion on video content in 2018 to gain a competitive edge. 

HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND—The fly in the ointment at the moment when it comes to 4K UHD is limited delivery of content to consumers, according to a recently released report from Futuresource Consulting.

While the growth of the UHD device market—including streaming devices, set-top boxes, game consoles and UHD TVs—continues and the quantity of 4K UHD content climbs, consumers have access to “only a small proportion” of the ballooning catalog of 4K programming, said Futuresource Market Analyst Tristan Veale.

The gap between the amount of 4K UHD content being shot and that being delivered appears to be growing “as the demand for the higher quality hardware is outstripping the propensity to pay for UHD content,” said Veale. The problem will likely continue to grow until “broadcasted UHD becomes more mainstream,” he said.

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S. authorized broadcasters to begin transmitting on a voluntary basis next-gen ATSC 3.0 television, which supports delivery of 4K UHD TV to the home.

The U.K.-based research and consulting service revealed the growing gap between 4K UHD content and the amount being delivered to viewers in its latest 4K UHD Consumer Market Tracking report.

The report forecasts that 35 percent of the TVs sold worldwide this year will be 4K UHD and that household penetration of 4K UHD sets will reach 8 percent globally. Helping to propel the uptake of these sets is falling average prices and the growing popularity of larger screens, it said.

Similarly, new UHD streaming devices from Roku, Amazon and Apple are quite popular among consumers. Such devices will account for 36 percent of all streaming boxes sold this year, the report added.

As was the case during the early days of HDTV, broadcasters at the moment are finding it hard to spend on 4K UHD infrastructure because the financial return does not match the investment, Futuresource said.

However, among subscription-based video-on-demand providers delivery of UHD is significant. By the end of 2017, it is expected there will be more than 33 million homes with a 4K TV and an SVoD subscription offering UHD content, said Veale.

“SVoD providers don’t face the same issues as broadcasters in delivering content, also problems with interoperability are significantly reduced do to IP connectivity,” said Veale. “As such, continued growth of available content on these platforms is expected.”

To learn more, visit the Futuresource Consulting website.