The output demands facing newsrooms in 2026 bear little resemblance to those of even five years ago. A typical broadcast newsroom now publishes to somewhere between 10 and 14 distinct destinations, including:

• Linear TV
• Streaming and OTT
• The station website
• The station鈥檚 mobile app
• YouTube (both long-form and Shorts)
• TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X
• Podcasts
• Email newsletters

A decade ago, that number was three or four.

of 300+ media leaders quantified where investment is flowing in this multi-channel landscape. Publishers reported net investment increases for video formats, and content specifically for YouTube and TikTok. Investment in text output, meanwhile, is declining.

Against this backdrop of expanding video output, newsroom resources are contracting. found that full-time local TV news employment fell 2.9% in 2024 to 27,066鈥攄own from an all-time high of 28,000 in 2021, with every market-size grouping declining.

The news industry has undergone significant transformation throughout 2024 and 2025, with major broadcast groups, digital publishers, and media organizations restructuring operations, reducing headcount, and accelerating investments in digital-first workflows.

The operational impact of this contraction falls hardest on the individual journalist. Multimedia journalists now routinely assume the responsibilities of four or more traditional roles, operating as writer, talent, camera operator, and editor. Industry hiring in 2026 explicitly prioritizes candidates who can shoot, edit, write, and report across platforms. The dedicated single-platform journalist role has virtually disappeared.

The instinct is to frame this as solely a staffing and financing problem. If newsrooms had more people and the funding they used to have, they could produce more content. That鈥檚 true in theory, but it misses the structural issue behind legacy newsroom workflows.

Most newsrooms still operate on technology stacks that were designed for linear broadcast production. Ingest runs on one system. Editing runs on another. Asset management lives in a third. The newsroom computer system that drives rundowns and story creation is a fourth. Planning, wire, ingest, and playout each function often has its own dedicated application, its own interface, and its own database.

These silos are the primary operational constraint preventing newsrooms from operating at digital speed鈥攔egardless of economic or HR headwinds that they may face.

Let鈥檚 illustrate this.

A professional content creator typically needs to access somewhere between five and ten software applications to produce a single deliverable.

Each handoff between systems鈥攅xporting a clip from the ingest server, importing it into the editor, tagging it in the asset management platform, and linking it to the rundown鈥攊ntroduces friction, latency, and the risk of error.

In a linear broadcast workflow with fixed deadlines, these transitions were manageable. In a continuous publishing environment where stories need to reach six or more platforms simultaneously, they become bottlenecks that compound with every additional media output.

The problem isn’t that any individual tool is broken. Most ingest servers work fine. Most editors are capable. Most asset management platforms do what they’re supposed to do.

The problem is that none of them were designed to function as a single, continuous production system. They were built as standalone products, purchased at different times, from different vendors, and stitched together through integrations that require constant maintenance.

Every connection between systems is a potential failure point, a latency source, and a place where metadata gets lost or re-entered manually. That architecture made sense when content had one destination and one deadline. It doesn’t hold up when every story needs to reach six platforms in three formats before the next one is assigned.

There鈥檚 a tendency to treat 鈥渄igital-first鈥� as a distribution question鈥攐ne that focuses on getting your content onto more platforms. That framing is incomplete.

Digital-first, at its core, is a production model. It means restructuring workflows so that content is created, edited, and managed as a multi-platform asset from the moment of assignment. That means it鈥檚 not produced for linear broadcast and then repackaged for digital after the fact.

In most newsrooms today, the rundown still comes first. The linear broadcast gets built, and digital workflows follow once TV production is complete. Once a newsroom falls into that pattern, there is no easy way to go digital-first. The entire sequence has to be rethought.

The shift that鈥檚 needed is from . A story isn鈥檛 a TV script destined for a single airtime. It鈥檚 a multi-format content object that gets worked on simultaneously for broadcast, web, social, and streaming from the moment it鈥檚 assigned. The planning, creation, and publishing stages aren鈥檛 sequential handoffs between disconnected systems. They鈥檙e concurrent activities within a shared environment.

Every major global news organization has now publicly committed to some version of this model.

• The BBC merged separate TV, radio, and online newsrooms into a single multimedia operation and by the 2030s.
• CNN created a to coordinate content across all platforms.
• Sky News to evolve from a TV channel into a video-first, digital-native operation.

These are not incremental upgrades. They鈥檙e architectural transformations that treat the entire production workflow鈥攆rom assignment to archive鈥攁s a single, connected system rather than a chain of specialized tools.

The newsroom鈥檚 challenge in 2026 isn鈥檛 a lack of ambition or talent. It鈥檚 an infrastructure problem. The technology stacks that most newsrooms rely on were built for a world where content had one destination, one format, and one deadline. That world is gone.

The organizations pulling ahead are the ones treating the workflow itself as a strategic asset. They鈥檙e simplifying where they can, unifying 飞丑补迟鈥檚 been fragmented, and building production environments that can keep pace with audiences who鈥檝e already moved on.

The technology to do this exists. The question is whether newsrooms are ready to stop adding tools on top of broken foundations and start building the connected production systems that digital-first actually requires.

, 天美传媒 Video鈥檚 天美传媒 Manager for Production Workflow, spent eight years working in local news before joining the company thirteen years ago. She鈥檚 watched the pressures on newsrooms compound in real time, and felt the impact that those pressures have had on broadcast teams and output quality.

At the NAB Show 2026 keynote, she described that pressure like this.

Adapting constantly is hard enough. It gets significantly harder when every task in the production workflow lives inside a different application. 鈥淭he professional content creator typically needs to access somewhere between five to ten software applications to create a single deliverable,鈥� explained Jenn.

Any workflow will eventually collapse under its own weight as demands become more and more rapid and complex. Broadcast technology is no exception, and it鈥檚 becoming more apparent by the day.

天美传媒 Video saw this same friction in its own product lineup. The company has offered three distinct products covering the production workflow:

• Media IO for ingest and playout
• Streamline for asset management
• Inception for editorial.

Each did its job well. But running them as three separate applications meant duplicating effort throughout the workflow, from development through to deployment. User rights, databases, planning tools, metadata management鈥攖he same capabilities were being rebuilt in each product when they could have been shared.

Indigo is what happens when you stop treating those as three products and start treating them as one end-to-end workflow.

Indigo puts the full content production workflow鈥攊ncluding ingest, editing, workflow automation, asset management, editorial, and playout鈥攊nto a single environment. One database. One web-based interface. All supported by modular capabilities that turn on when you need them.

Every Indigo deployment starts with a shared core that handles the foundational layer. This includes user rights, asset libraries, metadata, AI-powered tagging and search, MOS integration, monitoring, and APIs. From there, newsrooms can add the production modules that match what they actually need to do.

• Media I/O is the video server layer that enables ingest, playout, transcoding, scheduling, and playlist management. It connects Indigo to live feeds and broadcast infrastructure across SDI, ST 2110, and hybrid signal environments. If you鈥檙e running ganged playout across multiple channels, Media I/O handles that from the same interface you use for everything else.
• Create brings editing into the platform. There鈥檚 a browser-based web editor for fast-turn content and NLE plugin integrations for craft editing. Either way, editors work directly with media that鈥檚 already in the shared asset library. No exporting to a local drive, re-importing into a different application, or manually transferring files between systems. Content moves from ingest to edit to finished piece without leaving the platform.
• Workflow handles the automation that ties production stages together. Visual workflow tools let teams set up archiving rules, transcoding chains, and publishing destinations鈥攊ncluding direct output to social platforms and CMS systems. This is where content actually gets routed to its destination without someone manually pushing it there.
• Planning is the coordination layer. Assignment managers build daily coverage plans, assign stories and tasks, and track progress, all within the same environment where the content is actually being produced. No more managing assignments in one system and checking production status in another.
• Lastly, Editorial brings native NRCS capabilities into the platform. This includes rundowns, stories, scripts, and wire integration. Journalists and producers work with familiar newsroom tools while staying connected to the same media, metadata, and workflows that power everything else in Indigo.

The editorial workflow isn鈥檛 a separate system that hands off to production. It鈥檚 part of the same environment.

A clip ingested through Media I/O is immediately searchable in Create, visible in Planning, and accessible in Editorial. No file transfers. No re-ingestion. No re-entering metadata that was already tagged upstream. The content exists once, and every part of the workflow can see it.

Compare that to a traditional stack where each application has its own database, its own file storage, and its own version of the truth. This is all connected by integrations that someone has to build and maintain. And if they break鈥攕ilos emerge.

To enable this connected environment, the entire Indigo platform runs through the Aura UI 鈥斕烀来� Video鈥檚 award-winning, entirely web-based interface. Every module and every function that the newsroom needs is accessed from a browser. No desktop clients to install. No application-specific interfaces to learn for each part of the workflow.

In a newsroom where one person might plan, shoot, edit, and publish in the same shift, not having to switch between five different applications with five different design languages is a huge efficiency gain, which can be channeled into better content production.

Under the hood, Indigo is containerized and Linux-based. It runs on-prem, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments. New capabilities are activated as needed through license keys, not hardware installs.

For the engineering and IT teams managing newsroom infrastructure, the math is simple. Indigo requires fewer servers, fewer databases, and fewer integration points that can break when a vendor pushes a firmware update. You have one platform to patch instead of coordinating updates across a half-dozen disconnected products.

For newsrooms already running Media IO, Streamline, or Inception, the move to Indigo isn鈥檛 a rip-and-replace. Jenn explained this this directly at NAB:

Indigo is new. But the technology inside it is not.

The ingest and playout engine behind Media I/O, the asset management workflows from Streamline, and the editorial tools from Inception have all been developed and tested across years of live deployments in broadcast newsrooms, sports production, and professional content environments.

Indigo brings the best of that work together under one roof鈥攗nified, modernized, and shaped around the workflows that newsrooms actually use.

The newsroom technology landscape has reached a breaking point. Audiences have moved, teams have shrunk, and the number of platforms on which users get their content keeps climbing.

The patchwork of disconnected tools that got newsrooms through the linear era is now the thing slowing them down most.

Indigo is 天美传媒 Video鈥檚 answer. One database and interface. Modules that turn on when you need them. And the flexibility to run wherever your infrastructure lives鈥攐n-prem, cloud, or both.

As David 天美传媒 said: 鈥淚ndigo is far greater than the sum of its parts. This powerful enterprise software represents an exciting new chapter for 天美传媒 and our customers.鈥�

For newsrooms ready to stop stitching tools together and start working in one connected platform, that chapter starts now.

Contact 天美传媒 Video to learn more about Indigo and how it fits your production workflow.

That existing relationship proved invaluable. Bell Centre trusted 天美传媒, 天美传媒 trusted Bell Centre, and both organizations shared a collaborative approach to solving challenges. Combined with 天美传媒 Video’s proximity to Montreal, it created the ideal foundation for bringing iSeries to one of hockey’s most iconic venues. For both organizations, the project represented an opportunity to work together on something new while building on years of trust and collaboration.

For Bell Centre, the objective wasn’t simply to add another camera angle. The goal was to capture the energy of the venue in a way that traditional camera positions couldn’t.

Anyone who has attended a Canadiens game understands the atmosphere inside the building. The challenge was finding a way to bring that same feeling to audiences watching from home.

While the initial installation can be completed during the off-season, restoring the system after a concert requires speed, efficiency, and careful planning. Every aspect of the deployment was designed to support fast turnaround times while maintaining the same operational standards expected for every event.

The challenge isn’t simply installing the system鈥攊t’s ensuring it can be deployed, removed, and returned to consistent and safe operation quickly enough to support the demanding schedule of a modern entertainment venue.

According to Ung, the initial installation can typically be completed in about a week, while returning the system to operation after an event is designed to take no more than half a day, helping Bell Centre maintain the flexibility needed to support its busy calendar.

The spectacular shots captured during a game are only one part of the story.

Behind every broadcast is a rigorous process designed to ensure safe and reliable operation.

Ung often compares operating a cable camera system to flying an airplane.

Just as a pilot doesn’t skip pre-flight procedures because yesterday’s flight was uneventful, iSeries operators follow a detailed checklist before every production. Visual inspections, software verification, communications checks, and system diagnostics are all completed before the camera ever leaves the ground.

The process is repeated before every event, regardless of how successful the previous production may have been.

Operators inspect cables, verify communications with the winches, review system status information, and confirm everything is functioning as expected before the system is cleared for operation.

Engineering the Experience

Operational procedures are only one part of the equation.

Long before a system is installed or a checklist is completed, safety is built into the engineering process itself.

Installing a cable camera system inside one of Canada’s busiest arenas required extensive coordination between engineering, operations, and venue teams. From site surveys and rigging considerations to flight path design and event-day procedures, every aspect of the deployment was carefully evaluated to ensure the system could deliver dynamic new perspectives while meeting Bell Centre’s operational requirements.

spidercam systems are engineered and manufactured to meet recognized international safety standards, including EN 17206, the European standard for machinery and equipment used in the entertainment industry. Combined with comprehensive site surveys, defined operating zones, geofencing capabilities, preventative maintenance programs, and rigorous pre-event inspections, these standards help ensure safety remains at the forefront of every deployment.

Together, these engineering safeguards and operational procedures allow production teams to focus on delivering the dynamic shots viewers see on screen while maintaining the high standards expected in live production environments.

As the Canadiens’ playoff run gained momentum, broadcasters increasingly relied on iSeries perspectives for opening sequences, replay packages, and unique storytelling moments throughout the game.

One example stood out in particular. A local broadcaster began using a dedicated iSeries shot to open its pre-game coverage, capturing a perspective that simply wasn’t possible before.

For Ung, that growing adoption was validation that the project was accomplishing exactly what it set out to do.

The system had evolved from an exciting new capability into an expected part of the production workflow.

That’s when you know a technology is making an impact鈥攏ot when people notice it’s new, but when they can’t imagine the production without it.

When asked to describe the Bell Centre project in a single word, Ung didn’t hesitate.

Rewarding.

For a lifelong hockey fan with a passion for innovation and broadcast technology, seeing iSeries become part of the Bell Centre experience carried special significance.

From trusted partnerships and operational excellence to innovative storytelling and fan engagement, the Bell Centre deployment represents more than a successful installation.

It’s a new view of one of hockey’s most iconic venues鈥攁nd a glimpse into how the fan experience continues to evolve.

The first big theme was scale. Live sports production is becoming more distributed out of necessity. For example, Fox Sports鈥� upcoming will combine a main production base in Los Angeles with remote studio shows from cities across the country.听

Abe Apt made a similar point and pushed back against the idea that AI is there to replace the production crew. In his view, the most useful applications are practical ones. 鈥淚鈥檓 very optimistic about AI, as an assistant, not as a magical non-sentient producer, and, as Mike said, the best uses right now are the boring but powerful ones. It鈥檚 definitely under the hood; you see the results of it, but it鈥檚 not thrown in your face.鈥�

Kevin Dresser spoke about AI as a valuable assistant for graphics operators in live production environments, where teams must create fast-turnaround content while adding rich context to the story.

Altogether, the听webinar听showed an industry rising to meet bigger expectations with smarter workflows. IP, AI, data, graphics, specialty cameras, and mobile formats are now working together to make live sports production more flexible, more efficient, and more in tune with how fans want to watch.听

The panelists took a practical view of cloud production. Cloud offers real value for archiving, disaster recovery, transcoding, remote production, and scaling up during major events. But not every workload belongs in the cloud.

As Kumar put it, ‘Different workloads belong in different places.’ Latency-sensitive live production and core operational systems may still work best on-premises, while the cloud can support burst capacity and flexible services.

Hawkings called this a more realistic, pragmatic approach to cloud. Broadcasters should choose the right technology for each challenge, not just follow the latest trend.

That is the bigger lesson from the webinar. The future of live production is not about betting everything on IP, cloud, AI, or software alone. It is about combining these tools to help your team create more content, work more efficiently, and stay ready for whatever lies ahead.

One of the more interesting threads was that AI was not framed only as a speed tool. Fox is testing it to flag questions of fairness, balance, and language. Morgan Murphy is using it to surface the kinds of follow-up questions an editor or viewer might ask. Analytics mattered too, because most teams now have more audience data than they can realistically interpret on their own.

For engineers, the message is simple. AI will not succeed because someone wrote a clever prompt. It will succeed when the plumbing is right: clean metadata, open interfaces, useful logs, sensible permissions, and systems people can trust when the show is live. That was the clearest takeaway from the webinar, and it may be the most important one.

That point matters for any venue team. Before choosing equipment, determine the venue’s needs and desired production outcomes.

The renovation used a hybrid design, keeping some baseband systems where they were still useful.听This reality-based approach reduced risk and gave the venue the scale needed for big events.听

This idea came up throughout the discussion. A modern venue needs good infrastructure, but it also needs skilled operators, engineers, creative teams, and partners who know how to use it.听

Ted also summed up the partnership side of the project.听

鈥溙烀来� is an amazing partner to us. We value听them greatly.鈥�听

The full conversation goes deeper into the renovation, the Super Bowl workflow, the fan experience, and the lessons other venues can apply to their own projects.听

听to hear directly from the 49ers, 天美传媒 Video, and Diversified about how Levi鈥檚 Stadium created a more flexible production environment for the future of live events.听