This article by Ronen Artman, VP of Marketing at LiveU, was first published in the September 2026 issue of Production360, on page 54.
What are your expectations for this year’s IBC?
I expect the industry conversation to shift decisively from application-centric to workflow-centric thinking, as broadcasters handle greater volumes of content at lower cost and higher speed. Being story-centric and digital-first is no longer a trade show slogan, it’s operational reality.
That shift reflects where the industry is going. The fast evolution of technology, combined with tighter budgets, means broadcasters are looking for smarter ways of working, so they can maximise coverage to meet viewer demand wherever audiences are watching. To succeed today, broadcasters need to capture footage once, from multiple vantage points – the main match, the crowds, behind the scenes, fan zones, street commentary and more – then disseminate that content to multiple destinations quickly and simply, reaching new audiences and younger demographics who consume content differently on multiple platforms. This year’s IBC will showcase technologies that give broadcasters more choice to tailor automated workflows to the demands of the project in hand.
Can you outline some of your key announcements for this year’s show?
At IBC2026, on Stand 7.C24, we’re showing how the foundation LiveU built with the invention of cellular bonding is evolving into the Q Era – AI-driven connectivity intelligence at the heart of a modular, open IP-video EcoSystem that automates live production workflows across news, sports, entertainment and other events.
The headline product is the LU900Q, our Intelligent Production Unit and the first built natively around LiveU IQ (LIQ™). It applies AI-driven connectivity intelligence and smart operator selection to optimise performance in real time, and is already field-proven at global events, including the recent World Football Championship.
We’re also showing the European debut of our expanded Sony collaboration, announced in April, including the LiveU TX1, a compact camera-mounted unit for Sony’s professional camera range, and the Sony RXS Connection License for direct file transfer from compatible Sony cameras to the PWA-RXS solution via supported LiveU field units, starting with the compact LU300S.
We’ll also showcase our expanded EcoSystem: Cuez has joined as our latest partner, extending workflow automation into cloud-based newsroom and rundown management, alongside LiveU Nexus, a universal gateway for digital and IP workflows, LiveU Studio, a cloud-native production service, LiveU Ingest, delivering a single, story-centric workflow for live and file-based content, and Actus X, for unified compliance logging, low-latency multiviewing, QA monitoring and AI-powered media intelligence.
How important is it still to bring new solutions/developments to IBC and the other key shows?
It’s more important than ever, but what customers come to see has changed. It’s less about individual products, and more about new solutions that solve real workflow problems. Our expanded IP EcoSystem is an example. It offers a high degree of compatibility and integration with other best-of-breed technologies, enabling broadcasters to elevate their production value.
IBC brings the industry together in one place, giving us the chance to demonstrate innovation directly to customers from across the world, to compare technology side by side.
Without new developments to show, that opportunity has less value. It’s also how we reach new customers, the demographics of the show are expanding, and we’re seeing more content creators, drawn in by exactly the kind of innovation that’s changing what’s possible in this space. This year’s conference programme reflects that shift too, with fandom and audience engagement now front and centre of the industry conversation. Streaming has opened doors to new styles of live production: take Drake’s Iceman live streams as an example: our work with Groovy Gecko transformed a performance into a cinematic event unfolding in real time. It’s this kind of innovation, and the solutions behind it, that shows like IBC exist to showcase.
What do you expect to be the major tech trends in evidence at IBC 2026?
Three trends stand out. The first is unified hybrid orchestration. Broadcasters need to increase value through predictable and reliable workflows, and an open product suite that works within existing ecosystems gives more choice, through increased access to protocols and technology partners, and greater opportunity to scale. By matching the right technology and teams to individual use cases, resources are maximised.
The second is the continued advance of AI. As integrated AI technology progresses from rules-based to generative to autonomous agentic, an additional layer of intelligent automation emerges, enabling seamless workflow integration and broader automation, rather than simply supporting specific tasks.
The third is a shift towards story-centric architectures. With an intelligent orchestration layer in place, broadcasters can organise their operations around stories rather than the platforms that carry them, seamlessly and swiftly scaling live events using simplified, cost-effective hybrid workflows. Operating from a ‘single pane of glass’ makes storytelling more accessible for all.
Finally, can you tell us a little bit about your roadmap for the rest of this year?
Our roadmap will include further enhancements to the LU900Q, our Intelligent Production Unit powered by LIQ™, and expanding our EcoSystem capabilities for automated, story-centric, digital-first workflows. And we’ll continue advancing Actus X, Actus Digital’s modular, browser-based platform, which unifies compliance logging, low-latency multiviewing, QA monitoring, clip creation and AI-powered media intelligence in a single interface.
We’ll also expand on our growing collaboration with Sony. Partners and customers are already seeing the value of tighter integration between Sony cameras and LiveU field units, particularly for fast, reliable file-based workflows from the field, and we expect that momentum to continue building beyond IBC.