TV Tech 524 - Aug 2026

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Zero Trust

Can C2PA protect media workflows from AI disruption?

equipment guide cameras & lenses

contents

August 2026 volume 44, issue 8

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Credit: Vithun Khamsong/Getty Images

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18 SPECIAL REPORT

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BPS Gains Traction in Broadcast and Other Sectors

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Technology could serve as a backup for GPS-dependent operations

By James E. O’Neal

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Moment of Truth in Sports Streaming Sparks Scramble for Better Solutions Despite all the extra features thrown at viewers, live sports viewing is predominantly experienced through legacy TV outlets

By Fred Dawson

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QC: Artificial Intelligence’s Big Hammer Finds Another Nail AI technologies are playing a larger role in test, measurement, quality control and compliance solutions

By George Winslow

The AI Dilemma: Can C2PA Keep a Video’s Provenance Intact?

equipment guide

user reports cameras & lenses

Keeping provenance metadata intact throughout the full broadcast chain, from camera capture to playout

By Max Slater-Robins

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Why Content Provenance Won’t Solve the Trust Problem Provenance technology strengthens transparency and accountability, but can’t solve the human challenge of deciding what to believe

By John Footen, Shelly Michael and Micky Silverman

24 How to Apply a Cloud

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• RED Digital Cinema • Grass Valley • Panasonic

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in the news

• Sony • Telycam • Blackmagic Design

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people

Resource Monitoring Strategy Key considerations for managing DevOps, on-prem and hybrid environments

By Karl Paulsen

26 @tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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The State of Public Media One Year Later A year has passed since Congress voted to end funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, placing it in the biggest crisis of its nearly 60-year history and forcing about 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations to find alternative sources to help make up for the $1.1 billion Congress had allocated over the fiscal period.

While many broadcasters have been encouraged by the public response, seeing a rise in pledges, others have not been so fortunate.

For example, last December the statewide public TV network in Arkansas eliminated its PBS affiliation and voted to change its name from Arkansas PBS to Arkansas TV. The network said the cancellation of federal funding created an unexpected loss of $2.5 million in annual money from the CPB, and after a financial review, it reported that the “annual PBS membership dues of nearly $2.5 million were simply not feasible for the network or our foundation.”

But the story had a happy ending, at least for now. In June, the Arkansas Educational Television Commission reversed course after a fundraising drive generated more than $2.1 million to cover the cost of PBS until June 30, 2027. The drive has also raised $1.5 million in commitments towards paying PBS for fiscal year 2028 and 2029, boosting the total amount to about $5.25 million.

Arkansas TV Foundation CEO Marge Betley hailed the decision, saying “this achievement, I believe, is a testament to the value that our campaigns place on the PBS programming as a resource for trusted, high-quality, lifelong learning.”

Despite such individual victories, the funding crisis has hit PBS particularly hard in rural areas where educational and community resources are most scarce. And yet optimism persists, especially given the example of the response in Arkansas.

After CPB said it was shutting down earlier this year due to the cuts, CPB Chair Ruby Calvert said: “What has happened to public media is devastating. After nearly six decades of innovative, educational public television and radio service, Congress eliminated all funding for CPB, leaving the board with no way to continue the organization or support the public media system that depends on it. Yet, even in this moment, I am convinced that public media will survive, and that a new Congress will address public media’s role in our country because it is critical to our children’s education, our history, culture and democracy to do so.”

While it can’t immediately replace the funding loss, America’s Public TV Stations has ramped up its efforts to muster more support for public media. After it was announced that no funding for local public media stations would be included in President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request to Congress, APTS urged its 170 public TV station members to continue lobbying their representatives.

“Support for federal funding of public media stations has long crossed party lines,” APTS said. “Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle understand the essential role stations play in their communities, especially in rural and underserved areas. But that support does not automatically translate into funding.”

APTS is sponsoring a “Protect My Public Media” campaign that works with local public broadcasters to inform viewers of the value of public media, providing steps to take action to protect funding. More information is available at https://protectmypublicmedia.org.

Over the past year, public broadcasters have shown incredible resilience in the face of such setbacks. At the same time, programs such as “The American Revolution,” Ken Burns’ remarkable six-part documentary that aired on PBS last fall, and NPR’s continued success in news podcasting (two of its offerings are among the most popular news podcasts in the country), remind us all of public broadcasting’s importance to the media landscape and its value in the nation’s discourse.

Tom Butts Content Director tom.butts@futurenet.com

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Vol. 44 No. 8 | August 2026 FOLLOW US

www.tvtech.com x.com/tvtechnology @tvtech.bsky.social CONTENT Content Director Tom Butts, tom.butts@futurenet.com Content Manager Michael Demenchuk, michael.demenchuk@futurenet Senior Content Producer George Winslow, george.winslow@futurenet.com Contributors: James Careless, Fred Dawson, Michael Heiss, Kevin Hilton, Phil Rhodes and Mark R. Smith Production Managers Heather Tatrow, Nicole Schilling Art Directors Lisa Macintosh, Will Shum ADVERTISING SALES Managing Vice President of Sales, B2B Tech Adam Goldstein, adam.goldstein@futurenet.com Publisher, TV Tech/TVBEurope Joe Palombo, joseph.palombo@futurenet.com SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.tvtechnology.com and click on About Us, email futureplc@computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 254, Lowell, MA 01853.

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in the news ATSC Updates Audio Loudness Rules to Cover Hybrid Broadcast-Streaming ATSC has revised its audio-loudness standard, marking the first comprehensive update to the industry reference since 2013.

The revision to its A/85 Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television expands the guidance beyond traditional TV to address today’s hybrid broadcast and streaming environment, and is designed to help media organizations comply with loudness requirements and maintain a high-quality viewing experience as they continue to transition toward IP-based and hybrid broadcast-broadband delivery models, the association said.

“As audiences increasingly consume content across both over-the-air and streaming platforms, maintaining a consistent listening experience has become more important

than ever,” ATSC President Madeleine Noland said.

“This update to A/85 gives the industry practical, contemporary guidance that reflects today’s production and distribution workflows while preserving the high-quality viewer experience broadcasters have worked to deliver for many years.”

The newly revised ATSC Recommended Practice modernizes the document with numerous technical clarifications and introduces two important new annexes: Guidance for establishing and maintaining consistent loudness for streaming media services using metadata-based and non-metadata-based audio codecs and a new Loudness and True Peak Quick Reference, designed to simplify implementation

TRANSACTIONS

ARRI Sells Rental Business ARRI is selling its global equipment rental business in Europe, the United Kingdom and North America to H2 Dana Harrison Equity Partners. Illumination Dynamics—ARRI’s lighting and power-equipment rental business—will remain part of ARRI and is not included in the transaction.

Coming several months after its acquisition by Riedel Communications owner Thomas Riedel ARRI said the divestiture “is a planned and significant element of ARRI’s long-term strategic development.”

The sale is designed to to resolve a structural conflict of interest between ARRI’s manufacturing business and its own rental business: As a manufacturer of camera and lighting technology, ARRI supplies customers and partners worldwide, some of whom compete with its rental activities, the company said.

Dana Harrison will be CEO of the global rental business.

Lumine Group Acquires Imagine Communications Lumine Group has acquired Imagine Communications Holdings for an undisclosed amount.

Dallas-based Imagine is a global provider of video connectivity solutions, channel origination software and hardware, and AI-enabled advanced Steve Reynolds advertising solutions. Lumine Group, with a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, is a publicly traded Canadian company that specializes in acquiring and growing vertical market software companies in the communications and media sector.

“Imagine Communications is an important addition to Lumine’s growing media ecosystem,” Lumine Chief Operating Officer Tony

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for engineers and content providers.

More specifically, the revised A/85 Recommended Practice provides recommendations for audio measurement, monitoring, production, metadata management, dynamic range control and loudness management throughout the content creation and delivery chain.

The revision comes as California begins implementing a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that extends broadcast-audio loudness rules beyond broadcast. That law—barring streaming services serving California consumers from running commercials at a higher volume than the shows, movies or other video content they interrupt—took effect July 1.

Garcia said. “The business will provide origination to our already extensive video processing capabilities, while complementing and expanding TV monetizati1on with its Landmark Sales AI-enabled advertising product, among others.

“Consistent with Lumine’s decentralized operating approach, Imagine Communications will continue to operate as an independent business, and as a buy-and-hold forever owner, we are committed to giving them the stability to keep building on their depth of expertise in the industry,“ Garcia added.

Imagine CEO Steve Reynolds will continue to lead the division.

MultiDyne Acquires MRMC Assets MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems is acquiring the assets of MRMC (Mark Roberts Motion Control), a developer of robotic camera systems, motion control solutions and automated camera tracking technologies for broadcast, digital cinema, sports production and live events.

Nikon announced in April it was selling MRMC. As part of the transaction, MultiFrank Jachetta, MultiDyne CEO Dyne has established MultiDyne Robotics and Motion Control, a new company that will maintain the well-known MRMC brand. “This acquisition represents a natural and highly strategic extension of our business,” MultiDyne CEO Frank Jachetta said.

The acquisition brings MRMC’s core technologies, intellectual property, manufacturing capabilities and key engineering expertise into the MultiDyne organization, extending MultiDyne’s reach to the very beginning of the content creation chain, the company said. It also significantly strengthens its international presence, particularly in Europe. MultiDyne plans to maintain MRMC’s operations in the U.K. Neil Maycock, a member of the MultiDyne leadership team, will run MRMC as managing director.

in the news OPINION

Will FreeCast Announcement Muddy the ATSC 3.0 R&O Waters?

Imagine building a TV business thing a television industry seeking based on streaming IP-packclarity on sunsetting today’s DTV etized local TV channels to standard and an expeditious transiviewers on a market-by-market tion can ill afford. basis. Who would have thought of that?

A BIT OVERWHELMING Well, it turns out the broadA month or so ago, I reported casters, broadcast vendors and CE about my stroke and my upcomcompanies responsible for develing open-heart surgery to bypass oping the ATSC 3.0 standard aren’t four significantly clogged cardiac the only ones. In early July, a tech arteries.

Phil Kurz company called “FreeCast.” speSince then, I have undergone cializing in providing “streaming the surgery and am convalescPlatform-as-a-Service” solutions, ing at home. While I am not threw its hat into the ring with the ready to run down the aisles at announcement of FreeCast Cities.

NAB Show any time soon, the The service combines local TV doctors assure me that after my channels, free streaming chanoutpatient rehab is complete, nels, premium television services, I will be back in the swing of on-demand entertainment and subscription things. In fact, following the operation, my management into a single consumer experisurgeon told me I now have “the heart of a ence. Currently in beta, FreeCast will enable 20-year-old.” consumers to access this content via supported I also wanted to report that the outpourTVs, mobile devices, computers and connecting of support, well wishes and prayers from ed streaming platforms, according to a press both family and friends, as well as many in release. the TV industry, has been a bit overwhelmThe FreeCast Cities announcement came ing. I want to thank everyone for their supabout three months after a company called portive texts, emails, phone calls, cards and Landover Saturn 5 proposed to the Federal flowers. They have meant the world to me.

Communications Commission that it conduct As I sign off, I will echo the closing of my an auction of a nationwide block of TV chanlast column. I am eager to put this all behind nels 28–36. me and get back in the swing of things, reThe two are unrelated in most respects but porting on our fast-changing industry. share a common thread: They both give the FCC even more to consider as it works on its final report and order regarding ATSC 3.0, which is expected to be out before the end of the year.

To be sure, neither proposal is a slam dunk. FreeCast must successfully navigate its way through rights negotiations with The National Association of Broadcasters stations and their networks before it has a has released updated Broadcast Station chance of fulfilling what it calls its “consumSelf-Inspection Guides for AM, FM and er-focused design philosophy,” namely, “One television stations, providing broadcastCity. One Login. All Your Television.” ers with practical guidance for conductRegarding the Landover proposal, the ing self-inspections and complying with FCC has much to consider, not the least Federal Communications Commission of which is whether it wishes to empower rules and policies. a private entity to conduct the proposed NAB and the Society auction on its behalf. of Broadcast Engineers What’s worrisome is these proposals further worked together to create muddy the waters for the commission as it conthe up-to-date, standardsiders its NextGen TV report and order—some-

NAB Releases New TV, Radio Station Self-Inspection Guides

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Warner Bros.

‘The Ranch’ to Host 2028 L.A. Olympic Broadcasters Warner Bros. Studios’ The Ranch Lot in Burbank, Calif., wii be a second host facility for the International Broadcast Center, supporting broadcasters covering the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Organizing committee LA28 had initially said last year that a new facility— Hollywood Park Studios, next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood—would house

the IBC. Instead, the IOC executive board recently approved plans for LA28 to use The Ranch Lot in the Burbank Zone in addition to Hollywood Park Studios.

LA28 will use the HPS facility as a key media and operational hub for the Olympics opening ceremony, Paralympics opening ceremony, swimming, basketball and the Main Press Center (MPC).

ized guides for FCC compliance.

In addition to helping broadcasters, the guides are intended for use by contract inspectors in the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program, administered by most state broadcaster associations.

The guides fill a gap that was created when the FCC stopped publishing self-inspection checklists in 2003 even though the agency has since made significant changes to its rules and policies.

NAB and SBE said the guides are a free member benefit, available for download from the NAB member portal and from SBE.

in the news NOAA to Study Potential of Broadcast Datacasting for Weather Alerts NOAA’s National Weather Service Mission Systems and Technology Office is working with SpectraRep to evaluate how DTV datacasting could serve as a resilient and redundant pathway for delivering NOAA Weather Radio audio and data to transmitters and digital devices.

As part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), NOAA/NWS and SpectraRep will assess whether existing digital television broadcast infrastructure can enhance the distribution of NWR (NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards) content, particularly during periods when other networks may be disrupted.

The project will also examine opportunities to expand endpoint delivery options to reach modern digital and mobile platforms without altering or replacing existing NOAA Weather Radio services.

“NOAA/NWS is looking forward to collaborating with SpectraRep, LLC to evaluate innovative approaches for delivering NOAA Weather Radio content via datacasting and other pathways for modernizing access to NOAA Weather Radio content,” George Jungbluth, director of the NWS Mission Systems and Technology Office, said.

For more than 50 years, NWR has provided continuous forecasts, watches, warnings and emergency information to communities, emergency managers and partner organizations.

Television datacasting uses a small portion of a DTV signal to securely transmit data as a one-way service that is unseen by viewers

and the general public. DTV is designed for very high availability—exceeding 99.9% annually nationwide—making it a potential candidate for improving continuity of operations during emergencies, NOAA said.

As part of the research, SpectraRep will also work with NOAA and NWS to better understand the current NOAA Weather Radio workflow, including how content is generated and transmitted.

Using NOAA/NWS content and technical expertise, SpectraRep will configure a demonstration showing how live NOAA Weather Radio content can be securely transported through a local television broadcast partner and delivered to a NOAA endpoint, such as a NOAA Weather Radio transmitter.

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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spectrum utilization

BPS Gaining Traction in Broadcast and Other Sectors Merkhet launch, D.C.-area testing show encouraging progress

By James E. O’Neal

Interest in the Broadcast Positioning System, or BPS—a relatively new offshoot of the ATSC 3.0 standard—continues to grow, sparking the creation of of a new company tasked with developing the technology for commercial deployments.

In addition to their regular services, broadcasters that have adopted ATSC 3.0 can also deploy BPS by transmitting very precise timing signals. The BPS signals are received and decoded similarly to satellite-delivered global positioning system (GPS) signals (also referred to as “Global Navigation Satellite System” or GNSS signals), and may be used to pinpoint the receiver’s geographic location and as a highly accurate time reference.

Credit: Merkhet Solutions

TOO MANY EGGS IN ONE BASKET An obvious question about the development and rollout of such an alternative to the long-established GPS technology is: Why is it needed? Doesn’t GPS function well enough in most applications?

The answer lies in the dependency upon GPS signals that now exists among many business sectors and industrial operations.

These extend far beyond vehicular navigation.

GPS has become an invisible utility that provides precision time to U.S. critical infrastructure, so much so that the National Security Council describes it as a single point of failure, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) estimating the risk to the U.S. economy exceeding $1 billion per day, according to Sam Matheny, formerly executive vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcast Positioning System group and now CEO of Merkhet Solutions, an independent company launched by NAB in June.

“Critical infrastructure includes the energy grid, communications networks, financial and data centers—the infrastructure that undergirds every facet of modern life,” Matheny said.

Harvey Arnold, senior vice president of engineering at Sinclair, which has been working with the NAB to develop BPS, said GPS

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NAB personnel, along with a Dominion Energy engineer, inspect the BPS equipment installation being trialed at one of the utility company’s substations.

delivery of timing information is very much a “single thread” with no place to go should that thread break.

“As time goes on, you hear more and more about GPS’s lack of resiliency,” Arnold said.

@tvtech.bsky.social

“GPS transfers time, not just positional information. This time-transfer function is very important.”

As GPS relies on reception of relatively weak signals from orbiting satellites, he

spectrum utilization GPS jamming or spoofing (the replacement of valid GPS information with spurious signals) occurs frequently in military combat zones and also along the U.S. southern border, Matheny noted.

“While illegal, there are numerous low-power jammers that can be found for sale online,” he said. “These are known to be used by people who would like to conceal their movements, but in doing so also create interference issues in their vicinity.”

A commercial-grade GPS jammer is currently available for military applications, Matheny added, and Russia has demonstrated its ability to use satellite-transmitted signals to interfere with GPS operations.

noted, it is especially vulnerable to blocking or jamming—intentional or otherwise—from stronger terrestrial RF sources.

“People don’t pay much attention to how easy it is to jam or ‘spoof’ GPS signals,” Arnold said. “However, this can affect such things as financial transactions, which require accurate time stamps. It’s after jamming or spoofing attacks that people get excited.

“GPS has become the ‘gold standard’ for time transfer,” he continued. “It’s ubiquitous, but it’s a weak signal that’s subject to jamming and spoofing. Even space junk has the potential to disrupt it. Such issues are common to any space-based communications system. Russia and China have a backup for their GPS systems; we don’t.”

BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN Matheny noted that GPS disruptions aren’t just speculative—they can and do occur.

“On March 19, 2026, 12 airplanes reported false positions at Dallas-Fort Worth airport as a result of GPS interference,” Matheny said.

“In mid-May 2024, solar storms impacted GPS such that farmers across the Midwest were advised to postpone use of their GPS-assisted

Sam Matheny

tractors during planting season.”

Matheny also flagged a January 2022 incident in which GPS service was disrupted for more than 33 hours in the Denver area, affecting both aircraft and ground-based users over eight square miles. The cause of the outage was later determined to be accidental, traced to a transmitter inadvertently operating in GPS spectrum.

BPS TO THE RESCUE Given these vulnerabilities, BPS technology seems to have arrived just in time to bolster the existing GPS navigational and time-transfer applications.

“The beauty of BPS is that it can easily become part of a broadcast system,” Arnold said.

“Transmitters and towers are already in place.

Once stations have converted to ATSC 3.0, the cost to add BPS is nominal.

spectrum utilization

BPS information rides along with normal ATSC 3.0 broadcasts and requires a minimum of hardware to implement.

Added Matheny: “The amount of equipment is relatively small in that you need a BPS synchronizer and a source of reference time. However, I’ll note that BPS has to function as a single, synchronized, managed network and is not something that a station would just go out and do on their own as each station has to be part of a coordinated system.

That is why we launched Merkhet Solutions to deploy BPS nationwide service.”

Credit: Merkhet Solutions

WHERE ARE WE NOW? The concept of using broadcasteroriginated signals as a GPS-adjunct dates back about five years, in a paper delivered at the 2021 NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT (BEIT) conference by its inventors: NAB’s Tariq Mondal, Bob Weller and Sam Matheny. Demonstrations and field testing began shortly afterwards and continue to the present.

Matheny said Merkhet Solutions currently has a cooperative R&D agreement in place with NIST covering several aspects of the technology, as well as a contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation for BPS field studies. He also described testing of BPS technology in a power grid application.

“We partnered with Dominion Energy [a Richmond, Va.-based energy producer and distributor] for this effort, and have BPS installed at one of the largest power substations on the East Coast,” he said. “BPS is being evaluated for use with phasor mea-

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“The beauty of BPS is that it can easily become part of a broadcast system.

Transmitters and towers are already in place.”

HARVEY ARNOLD, SINCLAIR

surement units and fault detection systems.

The results thus far are positive and meet the needs of energy grid operations.”

Dominion Energy testing involves overthe-air signals from WHUT-TV Washington, D.C., and WNUV Baltimore, Arnold said.

“WNUV receives WHUT-TV, which is about 40 miles away,” he explained. “It’s configured as the ‘leader’ station which is referenced to the coordinated universal [CUT or UTC] time reference sent from the NIST facility in Boulder, Colo.”

The Baltimore station (WNUV) receives the time information signal from the Washington station (WHUT-TV), resynchronizes to it, and then retransmits this precision time information in a “leader-follower” manner, Arnold continued.

“As the BPS network develops, such ‘leaderfollowers’ can serve as important tools in helping to economically extend the coverage of the BPS network,” he added.

Sinclair is getting ready to turn on another BPS station (WIAV-CD, a Class-A station in

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Washington, D.C.) to determine how many hops are possible before the timing signal is degraded.

“This will also provide a third location for testing and analysis of BPS positioning information,” Arnold said.

TIME TO RETIRE ATSC 1.0 BPS is a unique application of ATSC 3.0 and cannot be added to ATSC 1.0, according to Metheny.

“It has to do with the signal and framing structure where BPS is leveraging the bootstrap emission time, which doesn’t exist in 1.0,” he said. “Additionally, the use of a highly robust physical layer pipe [PLP] in ATSC 3.0 enables a BPS signal that operates below the noise floor, which also isn’t possible with 1.0.”

Arnold and Matheny agreed that a nationwide BPS deployment won’t be possible until a hard date for ATSC 1.0 shutoff is established.

“We need more transmitters and geographic separation for good positional information in implementing BPS,” Arnold said. “This requires the sunsetting of ATSC 1.0. That’s one of our pushes right now.”

Matheny added: “A firm time frame for transition would certainly be helpful. That is true for BPS as well as for consumers and NextGen TV generally. Having a timeline certainty enables everyone to plan and invest accordingly. My hope is that BPS can help accelerate the transition, as it solves a welldefined and big problem.” ●

streaming technology

Moment of Truth in Sports Streaming Sparks Scramble for Better Solutions Despite all the extra features thrown at viewers, live sports viewing is predominantly experienced through legacy TV outlets

By Fred Dawson

Sandeep Tiku, group CTO of DAZN, joined Dan Rayburn at the NAB Show Streaming Summit in April to discuss the new Delta protocol expected to be demoed at next month’s IBC.

see almost nobody reporting the numbers correctly.”

With streamers spending $12.5 billion of the $64 billion global outlay for sports distribution rights in 2025 and likely to add another $1.7 billion this year, according to Ampere Analysis, it remains to be seen if the pursuit of better UX will deliver the payback platforms are looking for. Getting there starts with eliminating the hassles confronted by consumers in searching for specific events, suggested Sandeep Tiku, chief technology officer at global sports streaming giant DAZN, which, as reported by the Financial Times, finally hopes to turn a profit by year’s end.

BATTLING THE FRAGMENTATION IMPACT ON UX

Damien Sterkers

Joining Rayburn for a different session at the NAB Show Streaming Summit, Tiku took streamers to task for thinking the use of recommendation engines qualifies as personalization. “Personalization totally is a joke,” he said, with Rayburn voicing concurrence.

“Open your app and keep scrolling to find what game to watch? That’s not personalization. That’s marketing buzz.”

Tiku suggested the granularity of the in-the-moment, per-user personalization

providers need will require streaming via the new Delta protocol, which DAZN and multiple development partners plan to demonstrate at next month’s IBC in hopes of bringing it to market over the next two years. But there’s ample evidence that sports streamers are already moving toward significant improvements in personalization and UX in general by tapping into the outpouring of new vendor solutions now at hand.

One way to get over the fragmentation hump with a more search-friendly UX can be found among the many multiview platforms that have appeared over the last year or so.

While multiviewing with three or four onscreen options has gained some currency, a spurt of newly introduced next-gen systems could bring streamers much closer to mitigating the fragmentation issue.

The platform Broadpeak introduced at April’s NAB Show is a case in point. As Broadpeak sees it, the key to getting the most from multiviewing lies with lifting limitations on the number of user choices, how those options are configured and how fast they are rendered, said Damien Sterkers, the company’s vice president of products and solutions marketing. In an interview, Sterkers said the new multiview platform meets these require-

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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Credit: NAB

Now that consumers can stream live sports of just about every description through one OTT service or another, the question is, can service providers draw enough viewers to make money on their big sports streaming bets?

Amid much publicity about the boom in sports streaming, the general absence of sports-specific ROI data can’t hide the fact that, by all indications, providers are a long way from generating the returns they’re looking for on huge licensing and infrastructure costs. Notwithstanding a wealth of vendor-supplied, audience-building solutions aimed at achieving that goal, live sports viewing is still predominantly experienced through legacy TV outlets.

That point was driven home in April by Dan Rayburn, streaming media analyst and producer of the annual NAB Show Streaming Summit, who noted that pay TV still accounts for around 85% of total live sports viewing hours in the U.S. Citing inflated numbers widely ascribed to recently streamed marquee productions, Rayburn said the impression that streaming services are drawing “tens of millions of viewers” is wrong.

“It’s not happening,” he said, adding, “I

streaming technology

Credit: AWS; Ampere Analysis

ments with improved cost and streaming efficiency compared to other available options.

But as with any consumer-targeted multiviewing platform, there are matters of rights, market testing and other business complexities that must be dispensed with before Broadpeak can talk about customer implementations. “There’s huge interest, but it takes a lot of time,” Sterkers said.

That appears to be the case with most of the other next-gen systems just hitting the marketplace, including the widely varying approaches taken by AWS, Eluvio, Harmonic, Imagine Communications, MediaKind, Syna­media, Tiledmedia and Red5, all of which were also on display at NAB Show. To date, very few service provider implementations of these solutions have been publicized.

One exception involves AWS, which began its foray into multiviewing late last year with the development of Formula One’s F1 TV Premium platform, enabling in-sync displays of camera feeds from every car in a race. Still in development with general availability targeted for IBC in September, Prime Video used the AWS solution in last season’s NBA telecasts to give viewers instant access to all games in action at any given time, according to Greg Truax, director of live services at AWS Elemental.

Truax said his team has put a lot of work into developing a ready-to-deploy platform that can be customized to each provider’s specific needs. Given that implementations can be resource-intensive on the server side, he said, this can only be done at reasonable cost “with on-demand scaling in the cloud.”

What matters is that, by packing multiple videos into a single bitstream, “you’re not burn-

The NBA last season launched “NBA Inside the Game powered by AWS,” a new basketball intelligence platform that turns billions of data points into compelling insights and interactive experiences.

ing batteries or using other extra resources like advanced chips on the client,” he added.

INNOVATIONS IN PRODUCTION

There’s also a lot happening on the production side to enliven live-streamed sports, as exemplified by the support industry operators are getting from Techex, the longtime U.K.based broadcast production system integrator and solutions provider that is expanding its U.S. customer base. At NAB Show, Techex announced a partnership with Encompass Digital Media that integrates Encompass’ cloud-production workflow platform with Techex’s content transformation, user interface and control technologies.

As described by Techex product manager David Edwards, the partnership is focused on live sports and production convergence for traditional broadcast and streaming in the cloud, including hybrid operations involving both on-prem and public commodity processing centers. “What’s unique for Techex is we can insert content seamlessly in multiple live transport streams with the ability to scale operations in the cloud compute environment,” Edwards said, adding this is done with no With streamers spending $12.5 billion of the $64 billion global outlay for need to decode the streams. sports distribution rights in 2025 and likely to add another $1.7 billion this year, according to Ampere Analysis.

A big focus for custom-

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@tvtech.bsky.social

ers has been enabling on-the-fly insertions of SCTE 35 (“Scutty”) markers and then ads on a regionally targeted basis whenever game breaks occur. The benefits and scalability of the Techex functionalities were on display in DAZN’s 2026 World Cup productions, he said, noting production for the championship game in New Jersey involved dealing with feeds from 50 cameras.

A UX GAME-CHANGER TIED TO LATENCY REDUCTION On another front widely regarded as essential to a better sports streaming UX, industry players are moving aggressively to lower endto-end distribution latencies. These initiatives have two goals: reducing streaming latencies to broadcast equivalency in the 6-to-8-second range (and sometimes lower) over conventional HLS and MPEG DASH streaming platforms, and achieving sub-500-millisecond latencies, commonly referred to as “real time,” over new streaming infrastructures.

As previously reported, the search for real-time streaming solutions shifted into high gear at the NAB Show with surging industry participation in testing and, in a few cases, commercial operations over new CDN infrastructure supporting the new MOQ Transport standard.

But there’s something more to MOQ beyond support for real-time streaming that may account for the surging industry involvement, and this could go beyond the latency question to address the larger challenge of how to drive ROI on live sports streaming.

As Broadpeak’s Sterkers noted: “MOQ gives us one single protocol for streaming all video applications. Imagine you have a streaming

streaming technology

David Edwards

service where you can mix programs on the same transport platform, adding real time for watch parties or to bring in commentary from influencers, while maintaining broadcast-level latency with the core content.”

That’s possible because MOQ users will have independently managed dashboard control over each track of a MOQ stream. They

can assign latencies ranging from sub-500 milliseconds to two-second “interactive live,” for applications like sports betting and interactive shopping, to 5-second “conservative live” matched to broadcast speeds.

Broadpeak is all in at this stage of MOQ experimentation, taking a highly flexible approach to its CDN infrastructure that will be productized as soon as one of its tire-kickers is ready to go public, Sterkers said. “It really depends on how much people want to spend on latency optimization,” he added. “But with MOQ they can do a lot more natively.”

Whatever the motivations might be, demand for MOQ support is high enough to persuade AWS it is worth a lot of the Elemental team’s time, AWS Elemental’s Truax said. Given that AWS has long supported streaming with the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), a fundamental component of the QUIC protocol used with MOQ, “we’re excited about the standardization of UDP video delivery,” he said.

With several customers already in MOQ beta testing, “it’s kind of a latency thing right now,” Truax added. But now that “all the pieces of the chain” are in play, aside from

Greg Truax

control over device playback, AWS has more expansive goals in mind.

“You will see us make a fairly big splash,” Truax predicted. But with the IETF hoping to complete the MOQ Transport specifications by year-end, getting to commercial operations is “going to take a lot of work all the way into December.” ●

quality control

QC: Artificial Intelligence’s Big Hammer Finds Another Nail AI technologies are playing a larger role in test, measurement, quality control, monitoring and compliance solutions

Credit: Interra Systems; TAG Video Systems

By George Winslow

Science-fiction writers, who love to write about artificial intelligence taking over the world by exterminating humanity, rarely address a far more pressing and mundane issue that many engineers face every day: What happens when things begin to get too complex for humans to understand?

“The biggest complication everyone has is that we have more devices all the way down the line, from intake acquisition to live production to master control to delivery and OTT, processing media flow than we’ve ever had in our history,” said Thomas Carlisle, senior solutions architect at TAG Video Systems. “And that comInterra Systems’ ORION monitoring platform gives media teams continuous, end-to-end overviews across linear, IP, and OTT delivery chains. plexity is only going to increase.”

With some important caveats, several major professional leagues and with mathis mind-boggling complexity, which can based,” cloud and IP workflows, Matthew jor events like the World Cup, which pose many potentially cost companies revenue and trigger Driscoll, vice president of product managecomplex QC and monitoring challenges. massive regulatory problems, is accelerating the ment at Telestream, explained. “And it is pro“We are focused on the end-to-end visibility use of AI by providers of test, measurement, QC, gressing fast for live, particularly for sports. of the content workflow and as a result are monitoring and compliance solutions.

That gives you this flexibility and burst “The big tech companies have given us this capacity for things like the World Cup, but ‘big hammer’—which is AI—and have spent a it also adds to the complexity. You have all lot of time looking for problems it can solve,” these complex changes from SDI to IP. You’re said Mediaproxy CEO Erik Otto, who is bullish asking these same teams to now leverage the on using AI to improve monitoring and the cloud, so you have all these more permutaquality of experience for viewers, but cautions tions of things that could go wrong.” that clients want to move beyond the hype To handle those challenges, Telestream has and see real applications and results. “But if developed two new solutions: Pulse, a softwareAI is a big hammer, not everything is a nail. defined IP monitoring platform for ST 2110 Not everything makes sense.” signals, and Lens, a cloud-native solution that unifies all of its monitoring capabilities.

Ashish Basu, executive vice president, CLOUD-BASED COMPLEXITY worldwide sales and business development While the interest in AI isn’t new—many at Interra Systems, agreed there is a growing of the main suppliers have been using it for demand for solutions to help monitor IP- and years—the ongoing shift toward software-, cloud-based infrastructures and that this shift IP- and cloud-based solutions is making it is impacting the use of AI. easier to deploy and apply AI-based technol“One of the major market segments that we ogies in test, measurement, QC, monitoring are seeing emerge as a very big opportunity is in and compliance solutions.

Thomas Carlisle, senior solutions architect, TAG sports,” he said, noting Interra is working with “All the components are there for fileVideo Systems

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@tvtech.bsky.social

quality control

NO ‘WINNER TAKE ALL’ SCENARIO Others caution that the market is likely to remain fragmented, with measurement and monitoring solutions needed for many different IP, cloud and baseband infrastructures.

This fragmentation will also have an impact on AI use.

“Effective AI requires tremendous observations and historical knowledge in terms of big data sets.”

MARK SIMPSON, TRIVENI DIGITAL

“There are big clients where the flexibility of IP is a godsend that really helps you speed up your setup,” Lynx Technik Chief Technical Officer Vincent Noyer said. “But in other cases, the gain is not so obvious. SDI is still easy to work with. I don’t see it as a winner-take-all scenario where everything is all-IP or all-cloud. We are still seeing strong demand for our products from clients who are focused on broadcast quality.”

This fragmentation is important in applying AI to tackle measurement and monitoring problems, with deployments that work best in cloud environments that can handle the massive processing and power requirements of LLMs. “If you are in the cloud, you are not constrained by power and by computing resources; you can do many things,” Noyer added. “But in other environments you can be limited. If you can’t support a 500-watt GPU, then other approaches, simpler products and technologies, will work better.”

Another major issue with LLMs and some of the newer AI approaches is the need for massive amounts of data for accurate results.

“AI is going to matter, but you do also have to be careful,” said Triveni Digital President and CEO Mark Simpson, adding that his company has used what might be called AI for 20 years. “Effective AI requires tremendous observations and historical knowledge in terms of big data sets. The question is, do we have enough data yet in this industry? The underlying system really must provide very

detailed observations for the AI to use.”

Another example of the market fragmentation and complexity that will affect how AI might be applied to test, measurement, QC, monitoring and compliance systems for broadcasters is the transition from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0 in the U.S. and other advanced broadcast standards internationally.

IP AND HYBRID COMPLEXITY ATSC 3.0 and similar standards are IPbased and can meld broadcast feeds with internet streams to provide interactivity, dynamic advertising and a host of other features. While this will let broadcasters better compete with digital media, it also creates additional complexities.

To handle those, TV Globo in Brazil recently deployed solutions from Triveni designed to handle the unique features of that country’s new TV 3.0 standard. “This has made it much easier for them to detect problems,” and will help them take advantage of the new standard’s features, according to Simpson.

All this fragmentation and complexity raises a longstanding issue—the need to simplify monitoring, measurement and QC processes.

“A lot of operations, engineering and leaders come to us and say we need one, one piece of glass,” TAG’s Carlisle stressed. “They don’t want to go to four or five different products. I want a unified, simple platform.”

In addition to simplifying the monitoring process, Carlisle and others believe AI can proactively analyze networks to solve issues

Erik Otto, CEO, Mediaproxy

before they might occur, greatly improving the viewing experience, which in turn would help retain audiences and subscribers.

Mediaproxy’s Otto noted that his company’s products, used by the major U.S. broadcast networks and hundreds of TV stations, allow customers to monitor hundreds of outputs, including encrypted ATSC 3.0 feeds and YouTube offerings that have been difficult to track.

“We can join together hundreds of thousands of sources,” he said. “And we are getting to the point where we can employ AI to do more interesting things to improve the quality of experience, which can have a direct impact on revenue, costs and audience. That is where we are directing a lot of our attention with AI.” ●

Credits: Mediaproxy; Telestream

very focused on root cause analysis,” Basu said. As part of that push, Interra is developing an AI chatbot to help users identify the source of problems. “We want users to know that a problem occurred, how to fix it and how to avoid it in the future,” he added.

Telestream’s Lens is a cloud-native solution that unifies all of its monitoring capabilities. @tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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special report | content verification

At CBC/Radio-Canada, C2PA provenance sits alongside more traditional verification work.

The AI Dilemma: Can C2PA Keep a Video’s Provenance Intact?

Keeping provenance metadata in check throughout the full broadcast chain, from camera capture to playout

Credit: Patrick Morrell/CBC News

By Max Slater-Robins

It’s impossible not to notice that generative AI is the hot topic right now, and its explosive popularity means newsrooms of all types—especially those that broadcast images to the world—face authenticity challenges that go far beyond traditional issues of whether a certain clip is fake or doctored.

Newsrooms must now grapple with whether they can show how and where a particular clip came from, the process by which it reached the edit and whether the version

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that viewers see still matches the material it claims to represent.

In our increasingly low-trust media landscape, AI blows everything up at a time when many major broadcasters can scarcely afford more reputational harm and attacks, especially around the basics of authenticity and provenance.

A DELICATE BALANCE On both sides of the trust equation, the balance is becoming more delicate. Currently, AI tools can make scarily convincing images, video and audio in moments, a far cry from

@tvtech.bsky.social

the stodgy, copyright-infringing outputs of even 12 months ago.

C2PA, or the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, is one attempt to shift that work earlier in the broadcast chain. The group, formed in 2021 and designed to protect content by building an open, industry-wide cryptographic standard to map the origin and history of digital media, features most of the heavy hitters in tech, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Adobe and Amazon.

Rather than asking journalists, platforms or audiences to spot every possible fake

special report | content verification

WHAT C2PA CAN PROVE At a basic level, C2PA is best understood as a way to preserve the history of a piece of media, rather than as a tool that decides if a story is true.

C2PA lets a validator check that a signed manifest belongs to a particular asset, whether the asset still matches that cryptographic binding and what the signer has asserted about its creation or editing history.

It does not independently prove that every assertion is accurate, that nothing happened before the first signature or that the signer should be trusted.

In other words, C2PA is nowhere close to a panacea, and the most useful way to think about it is as a chain of custody.

As a Sinclair spokesperson put it: “Authentication and provenance answer questions such as: Where did this content come from?

Who created it? Has it been altered? They do not independently determine whether every claim within the content is accurate or true.

“Editorial standards, fact-checking, reporting, and journalistic judgment remain essential,” the spokesperson said. “Provenance is a valuable tool that supports trust, but it does not replace the work of journalism.”

Bruce MacCormack, chair of the International Press Telecommunication Council (IPTC) Media Provenance Committee and

“C2PA can provide an ‘express lane’ for media that is signed by trusted parties.”

BRUCE MACCORMACK, IPTC

of the calculation. Newsrooms also need to establish who signed the credential—a camera, application, agency or publisher— and whether that identity is trusted in the relevant context. A credential from an unknown signer can be cryptographically intact without carrying much editorial weight.

SIGNING AT THE SOURCE The cleanest and earliest place to start that chain is in the camera.

If a newsroom can verify a video or image file only after it has been edited, compressed or pulled from a platform, it is already fighting a losing battle. Camera-side authentication aims to move the first trust signal as close as possible to the point of capture.

For Sony, that means building provenance into the camera (or media capture device) itself.

According to Martin Lindsay, head of networked solutions at Sony Electronics,

Bruce MacCormack

Sony signs the captured file inside the camera, binding the media to the device so that downstream systems can validate its origin and integrity.

C2PA-compliant credentials then provide a standard way to record how and when media was created. In Sony’s case, capture time can help establish when the material was recorded, while 3D depth data—where supported—can add evidence the image came from a physical camera capture, rather than a generated or artificially constructed scene.

Camera-side signing is only the first link, though. Lindsay said provenance is strongest when it remains attached “from camera capture all the way through editing, storage, and distribution workflows.”

The challenge is that real-life broadcast media rarely travels in a straight line.

“Provenance can be lost when content is exported, transcoded, compressed, screen-recorded or moved between systems that do not yet support these standards,” Lindsay said. “That is why industry-wide adoption and workflow integration are critical. Authentication needs to become part of the normal production pipeline rather than an additional step.”

Sony is also trying to move verification out of standalone tools. Linsday said Camera Verify and its Image Verification Pre-Check SDK can be integrated into newsroom or media-management systems, allowing routine checks to run without requiring journalists to process every file manually.

Because news footage is rarely broadcast exactly as captured, the edit must become part of its provenance record.

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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Credit: Project Origin

after the fact, it creates a way to attach tamper-evident provenance information to media as it is captured, edited, distributed, and displayed.

To many broadcasters, the appeal of the C2PA solution should be obvious. In theory, a piece of video could carry a technical record of its journey from camera to newsroom, through the edit, out to publication, and eventually into a player or TV app.

In practice, thorny questions remain over whether that chain can survive the real broadcast workflow—from ingest to playout, streaming and social distribution—and the messy hand-offs that are a natural part of this process.

co-founder of Project Origin, a consortium of global news organizations formed to combat digital disinformation by establishing a secure, end-to-end process to prove the integrity and origin of digital news and journalistic content, summed it up nicely: At both ends of the broadcast chain—ingest and output—knowing the provenance of media files is vital.

At ingest, signed content from a trusted camera, newsroom, agency or partner can help verification teams triage material more quickly; unsigned footage does not automatically become suspicious, but it may need extra manual checks.

“The issue is the increased fact-checking burden created by the wide availability of tools to generate or manipulate media,” MacCormack said. “C2PA can provide an ‘express lane’ for media that is signed by trusted parties.”

At output, the same infrastructure can help a broadcaster defend its own material once it leaves the newsroom, especially when clips are reposted, embedded or shared on third-party platforms.

A valid signature is therefore only part

special report | content verification

Sony’s PXW-Z300 camcorder features the company’s camera authenticity solution.

Adobe Premiere and Media Encoder can attach Content Credentials at export, including verified identity and linked accounts. Premiere can also scan supported imported assets for existing credentials, while sequences containing supported Adobe AI-generated material receive credentials automatically in compatible export formats.

Credit: Sony

ADOBE: THROUGH THE EDIT A clip may be trimmed, captioned, colorcorrected, combined with other footage or prepared for several platforms before it reaches an audience—all of which are completely standard processes. Those changes do not make the media suspicious by default, but they do need to be carried out honestly if provenance is going to remain useful.

Each handoff still must understand what it is receiving, and cross-compatibility remains a potential stumbling block.

Adobe itself acknowledges that it cannot guarantee every publishing destination will support Content Credentials, which neatly captures the wider broadcast problem: one system can preserve provenance, but the chain only works if the next system does. too.

Any handoffs become more complicated inside a professional broadcast environment.

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Much of the public conversation around C2PA has focused on capture, publishing and consumer-facing formats, but broadcasters work across a much messier chain of file formats, live signals, production tools, playout systems and distribution routes.

For Thomas Bause Mason, director of standards development at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, that means provenance has to be considered across the standards that already hold broadcast workflows together.

“SMPTE does not want to invent its own CPA specification but rather make sure that SMPTE standards are ready to support the CPA solution the market will choose,” he says. “That may be C2PA.” In practice, the question is whether the systems used for professional editing, media exchange, IP production, legacy video links, and compression can carry a provenance record without losing it along the way.

The Material eXchange Format (MXF) is becoming more widely used for professional editing and distribution, but Bause Mason said no single format or handoff can solve the problem on its own. Broadcast workflows are made of many connected systems, and each one needs to know how to preserve the trust chain.

@tvtech.bsky.social

Bause Mason’s broader argument is that professional media infrastructure is not yet prepared to support content provenance end to end. Existing standards and systems need ways to carry manifests, identifiers or other durable links to provenance data before C2PA can move from controlled demonstrations into routine broadcast operations.

Editing, VFX, transcoding and format conversion can strip or break provenance, but they should also be able to add their own assertions to the manifest so the credential reflects what actually happened to the media.

MULTIPLE LAYERS Provenance also must represent several layers of origin. From a broadcaster’s perspective, the producer may be the source, but the audience may need to know which channel, platform or publisher endorsed the final version.

As one might imagine, this creates some difficult broadcast-specific questions.

Bause Mason helpfully frames some of them: Should authentication work frame by frame or shot by shot? How should provenance remain synchronized with the content during live production? What happens

special report | content verification

WHEN THE CHAIN BREAKS A broken provenance chain cannot become a verdict in itself. If C2PA is going to work in a newsroom, it has to support editorial verification rather than replace it.

For broadcasters that handle user-generated video, archive footage, agency or wire material, social clips and content from third parties—in other words, many of them—this point is especially salient.

Some of the content may never have had credentials attached in the first place; some may have passed through systems that stripped or corrupted metadata before it reached the newsroom; and so on.

A newsroom may encounter media that was never signed, media whose manifest has been stripped, a credential that fails validation or a perfectly valid credential from an unfamiliar source—four different cases requiring different editorial responses.

“SMPTE does not want to invent its own CPA certification but rather make sure that SMPTE standards are ready to support the market will choose. That may be C2PA.” THOMAS BAUSE MASON, SMPTE

As Marcos Armstrong, senior specialist, content provenance and integrity at CBC/ Radio-Canada put it: “When dealing with user-generated content, archival assets, or third-party wire material that lacks a cryptographic signature, broadcasters cannot rely on data alone.”

At CBC/Radio-Canada, that means provenance sits alongside more traditional verification work. Armstrong points to visual vetting, geolocation, satellite imagery, public records and other open-source intelligence tech-

niques used to check visual material when credentials are absent, incomplete or broken.

Armstrong said CBC/Radio-Canada is also exploring watermarking and perceptual fingerprinting as ways to reconnect broken credentials to their original manifests.

CBC/Radio-Canada has also tested more complete provenance workflows, including an in-house signing tool, the EBU’s C2PAenabled video player, a C2PA-enabled Sony PXW-Z300 and Adobe Premiere in demonstrations of how a “glass-to-glass” workflow might operate.

Provenance can also fail for ordinary reasons. A genuine piece of footage may lose its credentials during compression or resizing, while a misleading video can still carry a clean technical chain.

For broadcasters, C2PA adds another signal to the verification process, helping newsrooms see where confidence is stronger, where the chain has gaps and where human judgment still needs to take the lead.

REACHING THE VIEWER Even if provenance survives the production chain, it must still reach the audience in a form people can understand. Sinclair sees that display layer as central to adoption.

“For content authentication to become a routine part of broadcast news and production workflows, the standards work needs to move beyond carrying provenance in technical metadata and ensure that the end viewer can actually see and understand it,” a spokesperson for the station group said.

Authenticated enterprise identity needs to be shown consistently in media players, televisions, and software players, the broadcaster said. Without that, a piece of content may carry valid provenance data, but the viewer may never see that it came from Sinclair or another trusted source.

There is a UX problem here as well as a standards problem.

Armstrong said CBC/Radio-Canada has been exploring how Content Credentials should appear on its digital platforms without overwhelming users or making routine edits look suspicious, a delicate balance.

CBC’s proposed model uses progressive disclosure: an unobtrusive icon or banner first, followed by an expandable plain-English summary for users who want more detail. The interface would distinguish routine technical changes, such as resizing or colour-profile normalisation, from edits that can affect context, such as a heavy crop, and from transformative changes involving generative AI. For provenance to become routine, it has

Thomas Bause Mason

to disappear into the workflow. C2PA only becomes useful to broadcasters at scale if it is built into cameras, editing tools, asset-management systems, CMS platforms, distribution chains and players.

FROM TRIAL TO BROADCAST INFRASTRUCTURE MacCormack argued that media provenance should become a feature rather than a standalone product—something built into capture, edit, distribution and display systems rather than handled by specialist signing or validation tools outside the normal workflow.

Armstrong makes a similar point from the broadcaster side, saying that the goal is to move away from manual resigning and embed provenance natively into common tools.

For Bause Mason, the standards challenge reaches across the professional media ecosystem, with each transformation point preserving the credential or identifier while adding its own record of what changed.

Broadcasters are not there yet. Workflows are mixed-vendor, format-heavy and full of hand-offs that were never designed to preserve cryptographic manifests. Social platforms, browsers, operating systems, televisions and software players also need to recognize and display provenance consistently before audiences can benefit from it.

C2PA will not replace newsroom judgment or settle every dispute over whether a piece of media is trustworthy. Its value is more practical: If the chain can hold, broadcasters gain a way to show where media came from, how it moved through production and why viewers can have confidence in the version they are watching. ●

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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Credit: SMPTE

when contribution feeds from OB trucks are cut into a program, sent to consumer outlets and then passed to affiliates for further edits?

As he elegantly put it, “Only if the whole ecosystem is trusted glass to glass can the consumer be sure to receive content they as well can trust.”

special report | content verification

Why Content Provenance Won’t Solve the Trust Problem Provenance technology strengthens transparency and accountability, but can’t solve the human challenge of deciding what to believe

Credit: Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

A

to insist on machine-readable person is scrolling transparency. Article 50 of the through social media European Union AI Act becomes and stops on a video enforceable on Aug. 2, and of a real human being California’s AI transparency making a plausible claim. Nothing rules are moving in a similar about the clip looks obviously direction. For media companies, fake. The lighting feels normal. provenance is more than a best The voice sounds right. It may practice. It is a capability they even be genuine footage. will need to operationalize.

How does that person decide EXPERTISE EXPERTISE EXPERTISE whether to believe it?

That is the real question now: JOHN FOOTEN SHELLY MICHAEL MICKY SILVERMAN WHY TRUST CANNOT not whether media can be manipBE ENGINEERED ulated—we already know it can.

People trust institutions. effective marketing, brand and customer Not whether synthetic media will continue to They trust familiar people. They trust sources strategy, as well as human emotion, environimprove; it will. The harder question is how their communities already recognize. They ment and temperament. Rather, we argue that belief gets formed when authentic-looking trust what aligns with their prior experiences provenance is now a necessary infrastructure media is abundant and context is fragile amid more readily than what disrupts them. And for making digital content more transparent constant technological innovation. while technology may modify some of these and defensible. The need for authenticity is Since my column “Content Provenance: patterns, it does not replace them. not coming soon; it is already here.

Audience Trust Is at Stake” in the December This is why propaganda still works in a Over the past two years, meaningful progress issue of TV Tech was published, confidence in world where authenticity tools are improvhas been made on provenance technology. The the telecom sector continues to fall. According. A message does not need to be fake to Coalition for Content Provenance and Authening to a 2005 Gallup poll, a record-low 28% be manipulative. It only needs to be framed ticity (C2PA) is an industry standard for attachof Americans expressed a “great deal” or “fair effectively, repeated often enough and ing provenance metadata to digital content so amount” of trust in mass media (see chart). delivered by a messenger the audience is people can verify where media came from and The conversation around the importance of predisposed to trust. Conversely, a piece of whether it has been edited. It has become the the verifiability of content authenticity, i.e. information can be authentic in a narrow center of gravity for content credentials. content provenance, has become pivotal. technical sense and still mislead. A real clip As synthetic media becomes easier to create, This article does not argue that provenance can be selectively edited. A true quote can and AI-generated images and videos become can solve the trust problem; that challenge be stripped of context. A genuine image can more commonplace, regulators are beginning depends on a multitude of factors, including imply something false.

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August 2026 | www.tvtech.com |

@tvtech.bsky.social

special report | content verification This is the core limitation that provenance cannot solve.

C2PA is designed to certify the history of content, not its inherent truthfulness. It can help establish where a file came from and whether its recorded history has been altered.

It does not determine whether the message is honest, persuasive, manipulative or fair. It is a transparency layer, not a truth engine.

The news industry has been dealing with versions of this problem for years. User-generated content has long been highly valuable and highly risky. It feels authentic because it is often captured by real people in real moments.

But that makes it easy to over-trust. “Shot by a real person” is not the same thing as “reliably framed,” “fully contextualized” or “immune from manipulation.” In some ways, that is precisely why provenance matters. In other ways, it is precisely why provenance is not a silver bullet.

AI MAKES THE PROBLEM MORE VISIBLE AI has not so much created the trust problem as made it harder to ignore. For broadcasters, the more immediate issue is not whether AI can generate convincing content. It is how to preserve confidence in the provenance of content as it moves through increasingly complex production and distribution chains.

The healthiest relationship with provenance is pragmatic: use it to strengthen verification, not to outsource judgment.

That becomes especially important in broadcasting because the chain is only as strong

as its weakest link. Content may be signed at capture, but downstream platforms and intermediaries can still strip or distort metadata during re-encoding or distribution. In practice, that means provenance can disappear before the audience ever sees it. For broadcasters, that means provenance technologies cannot be treated as a point solution. It must be operationalized across capture, editing, publishing, metadata management and governance.

C2PA is not a trust substitute. It is an enterprise capability that supports trust at scale.

The future is unlikely to produce a universal

trust layer that makes belief automatic. That is asking too much of any technology. What it can do is provide better information.

For media executives, this creates a practical agenda.

First, treat provenance as infrastructure. Second, start where the risk is highest, especially around UGC and breaking news workflows. Third, build governance around what you capture, expose and retain. And fourth, prepare for provenance to become part of compliance architecture, not just editorial experimentation.

That is where the real opportunity lies. Not in claiming technology can manufacture trust, but in building systems that make trust easier to earn and easier to defend.

Technology can tell us where information came from. It cannot tell us what to believe. Even if it could tell us what to believe, would we? ● John Footen is a managing director who leads Deloitte Consulting LLP’s media technology and operations practice. Micky Silverman is a senior manager in Deloitte’s M&E practice. Shelly Michael is a consultant in Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector.

The authors can be reached via TV Tech.

The Promise of Provenance

news entity.” That is useful reputationally, even if it is not the same thing as proving the underlying claims are true.

The third bucket is human trust. This is the hard one. It determines whether the audience believes what it is seeing. This is where the technology has the weakest effect, not because it is weak technology but because belief is not a technical factor.

The distinction matters most in news, where user-generated content is often the most urgent problem. Broadcasters know this instinctively. The footage that creates the greatest verification pressure is usually not the footage they shot themselves. It is the clip sent by a bystander, witness, or anonymous social account. ●

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

Credit: Gallup’ Moor Studio/Getty Images

The easiest way to think about provenance is through three different lenses: legal, reputational and value-based.

Legal trust is the strongest case for the technology and, frankly, one of the main reasons it exists. Who created the file? Who must get paid for use of this asset? Has it been altered? What is the chain of custody? Can any of that be demonstrated in a dispute, an audit, a rights conflict, or a regulatory inquiry?

On these questions, C2PA and related content credentials are genuinely useful infrastructure. They add standardized and cryptographically protected information to digital assets.

The second bucket is reputational trust, or the court of public opinion. Here, provenance helps by signaling that an organization is willing to stand behind content and make parts of the editorial or creation trail more transparent. The International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) work regarding verified news publishers and publisher certificates is important for exactly this reason.

It begins to create a more formal publisher identity layer on top of the general provenance standard. In effect, it says not just “this file has a credentials record,” but “this file came from a verified

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cloudspotter’s journal the service provider’s systems on a “squarefoot” basis or a “rack-by-rack” space basis— with or without maintenance or support by a third-party organization.

CLOUD STRUCTURE A cloud can be considered a business when it is owned and operated by a “recognized” entity such as Amazon (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft (Azure), Google, etc. But they may not be the only “cloud resources”—companies that offer software services under their own “private” cloud (e.g., Wasabi or Comcast). Such cloud organizations or structures may also provide intercloud offerings, allowing them to scale across larger data sets, bridge various specialized “data centers” or even sublet entire facilities to a particular single entity as needed.

For on-prem solutions or even large-scale public data centers, monitoring platforms are “managed over-the-top subsystems” that may drive an entire solution set platform (data center) or link groups of data centers. For an on-prem environment, such a platform could require a large up-front commitment by the organization.

If your organization is employing a cloudbased DevOps solution with rapid iteration and continued live or real-time practices that involve continuous results reporting and direct-to-developer feedback, though, it may be difficult to predict or understand the depth Key considerations for managing DevOps, of commitment necessary on the front end, let on-prem and hybrid environments alone what might occur as the systems scale upward in response to growing needs for client services or combuildings, which allow for perhe term “cloud” originated from pute and storage expandability. sonalized management and cost diagrams of large-scale data Self-deployed monitoring a great deal to fabricate, support networks and, for a long time, the systems may also generate a lot and manage. cloud was just a “means to transfer of unused capacity and wasted reToday, there are two general information from one place to another using sources. That is unpredictable as meanings of this “data center” someone else’s computer.” In time, privately the software-solutions processes terminology: controlled services emerged that allowed users move through the various “bring• It’s where the term “on-prem”— to store data with “cloud service providers,” to-market” stages. Even when meaning “on the premises” new businesses that permitted access to their the DevOps solution is built for comes from—inferring that “private” data from anywhere. internal or local operations only, self-managed compute services In truth, the user’s data lived on computer EXPERTISE the self-built/self-managed mon(usually servers and computer systems owned and hosted by a cloud service KARL PAULSEN itoring platform can overwhelm elements), storage and input/ provider. Those physical places became known the IT or engineering services output network management as data centers, consisting of racks and racks of with unpredictable consequences. are physically placed in the company’s computers, storage devices and networking deToday, there are many potential openowned-and-operated facility (such as a vices that communicate and/or support many source monitoring solutions available to orgahardened warehouse full of electronics, compute functions. Such services must be nizations; some strictly on-prem and others cooling, backup power and security). capable of expanding—as necessary—to meet entirely cloud-based. Any improperly inte• You can host your data in your own datathe user demands for short-term, long-term grated solution could generate a lot of unused center “on prem,” or you can host it with and immediately accessible data housed in locapacity and wasted resources—as reported by another service “as in the cloud.” Private cations typically unknown to those end users. service providers, vendors and end users. companies are now building entire data That’s not to mean an experienced organizacenters to either outsource/lease space PRIVATE CLOUDS tion familiar with today’s most relevant trends (only) or house entire systems solutions for Large companies often have their own (and with sufficient cloud management soluusers to place their own gear into or rent “scaled” data centers located at their physical

How to Apply a Cloud Resource Monitoring Strategy

Credit: Vithun Khamsong/Getty Images

T

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@tvtech.bsky.social

cloudspotter’s journal Some (but certainly not all) system solutions vendors may either make it difficult to figure things out intentionally or require long-term solutions support contracts, resorting to extensive Googling or digging into all kinds of online forums for answers. Much of that information will likely be inapplicable to the organization’s actual needs without considerable DevOps adoption (while under live operations).

MONITORING FOR SUCCESS

tions experts in-house) should not or cannot develop a comprehensive, scalable monitoring solution that fits its needs. However, the risks and costs can escalate as the environment expands or as the scale mushrooms. It is a complex balancing act that can make or break the organization’s performance or profitability.

Before venturing into this domain, be sure to understand the overall solutions development processes—especially the real-time management core initiatives and the harmonization of the operation’s IT functions.

FIRST, DEFINING DEVOPS DevOps is a collaborative approach that merges software development and IT operations—and is nearly always a live or real-time environment. DevOps typically combines people, processes and automated tools to build, test and release software much faster and with greater reliability.

Throughout the DevOps process, software is constantly monitored while in development or in use. During the testing and “spinning up” process, user issues generate large amounts of data and feedback that go directly back to developers to be quickly improved. Once deployed, the procedures usually continue and may require more capabilities than an “onprem” solution might be able to handle.

In the cloud, DevOps may function by using “on-demand” cloud infrastructure (Fig. 1) to automate software delivery, manage infrastructure through code and auto-scale resources dynamically to meet delivery needs, adjusting the flows by reacting to anomalies, including failures, crashes or data overruns. In the cloud, instead of manually configuring physical servers, teams write code to provision environments, test automatically and deploy updates while continuously monitoring application health.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the process by which operations teams define network servers,

databases and environments using configuration files (such as Terraform or AWS CloudFormation) rather than manual clicks in a portal.

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) is an accompanying cloud-native service (such as AWS CodePipeline or GitHub Actions) that permits the automatic testing of code as soon as developers commit it. Once verified, the cloud platform automatically pushes the software update into production.

DATA CENTERS One of the “DIY” challenges is when an organization is driven to write all of the integrations itself and then forced to manage those integrations long-term. Novel “opensource solutions” require a great deal of upkeep, attention and maintenance.

Users report they almost need to have a Ph.D. to set up effective and sufficient monitoring capabilities that can address the ever-growing needs of a DevOps environment.

Karl Paulsen, CPBE & SMPTE Fellow, is a retired chief technology officer. He can be reached at karl@ivideoserver.tv or at TV Tech.

Credit: Karl Paulsen

Fig. 1: On-demand cloud infrastructure for DevOps purposes.

Effective end-to-end monitoring is crucial for enterprise DevOps teams to ensure high-quality, scalable and secure software delivery across complex environments.

Key requirements for enterprise DevOps monitoring platforms (Fig. 2) must be properly selected to ensure scalable, reliable and efficient software development and operations. The cloud on its own is not generally designed to develop those platforms without a considerable amount of code or structured elements that are specifically fashioned to the needs of the user’s organization.

Effective end-to-end monitoring is crucial for enterprise DevOps teams to ensure high-quality, scalable, and secure software delivery across complex environments.

In our next installment, we will dig deeper into issues on dynamic scaling, integration and vendor support, the importance of documentation, how to establish real-time notification and developer access without infrastructure exposure and end-to-end data capture across the DevOps lifecycle. ●

Fig. 2: Alternatives and options for cloud-based monitoring of resources. @tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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equipment guide | cameras & lenses

V-RAPTOR Brings a Cinematic Edge to ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ USER REPORT

By David Baker Remote Operations Specialist ESPN

BRISTOL, Conn.—“College GameDay” is ESPN’s premier college football pregame show, for which we have won the Sports Emmy for Best Weekly Studio Show for three consecutive years (2024–2026). It’s a privilege to work on the show and to continue to shape it.

For those unfamiliar with “GameDay,” it’s a 20-plus-camera, multiset, fan-immersive broadcast that moves to a new college campus every week of the season. It’s exciting, unpredictable and one of the most technically complex studio shows on television.

Credit: ESPN

LIVE IN HDR Last season, we began exploring how to evolve the show’s visual identity. We had already moved “GameDay” into HDR, and that shift opened the door to a more cinematic presentation. I don’t just mean shallow depth of field, which tends to dominate conversations about “cinematic sports,” but the full package: Crisp edge detail, richer color and extended dynamic range. With a controlled lighting environment on our set (even outdoors), we knew we could push the look further.

At the 2025 NAB Show, RED’s booth immediately caught my attention. They were showcasing the V-RAPTOR with the SMPTE back, and the combination aligned exactly with my search for a cinema-grade sensor that could still integrate cleanly into a broadcast workflow.

After meeting RED’s specialists and digging into the camera’s capabilities, it became clear

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the V-RAPTOR could deliver two things we needed simultaneously: One was a true cinematic image suitable for HDR and the other was high-frame-rate performance for studio slow motion.

We weren’t just chasing a “pretty picture.” I needed a camera that could slot into our EVS replay system, take a matching look-up table to sit alongside our Sony broadcast cameras and still be painted live from the truck.

V-RAPTOR ticked every box.

Every week of the season, “GameDay” rolls into a new campus. We build a full studio environment outdoors, surrounded by thousands of fans who show up before sunrise. It’s a wild place to deploy a cinema camera, but RED made the integration straightforward.

Canon supported us with optics, primarily the Canon 17–120 mm Cine Servo zoom, and later a prototype Canon 11–55 mm.

We ran the camera through a Cyanview control panel, RED provided the necessary rack gear and we powered the camera directly from the truck to accommodate the different power David Baker requirements.

Operationally, the only noticeable change was weight.

With cine glass and the larger body, we assigned the camera to an operator with experience carrying one through long, energetic handheld sequences.

Once it was on his shoulder, he ran with it creatively.

We deployed the V-RAPTOR for two weeks of the 15-week regular season, at Vanderbilt and Utah. Vanderbilt was a perfect test case—the show featured live country music @tvtech.bsky.social

We selected RED’S V-RAPTOR camera because it offered a cinema-grade sensor that would integrate cleanly into a broadcast workflow.

performances, and the camera produced standout images that immediately differentiated themselves from our standard broadcast coverage.

We ran the camera at 3x slow motion, using it for fan reaction slo-mos, which are a show signature. We also used it for our on-set fieldgoal challenge, where a student attempts a kick for a cash prize.

READY FOR 500TH SHOW The camera bridged the gap between cinematic presentation and high-frame-rate replay in a way we hadn’t achieved before.

RED proved itself as a valuable tool in our broader innovation strategy.

As “GameDay” enters its 40th season and prepares for its 500th

road show, we’re always looking for ways to evolve. V-RAPTOR gave us a new visual language to explore and helped inform how we think about balancing cinematic storytelling with live broadcast reliability.

As we continue to push forward in HDR, in camera tech and in how we bring the energy of thousands of fans into viewers’ homes, RED will remain part of the conversation. ● David Baker has worked with ESPN since 2002, first as a freelancer across audio, video, cameras and engineering, and later inside operations for a wide range of broadcasts. In 2024, Baker joined ESPN full time as a remote operations specialist, overseeing its flagship traveling studio shows. He can be reached at david.baker@espn.com.

More information is available at www.reddigitalcinema.com.

equipment guide | cameras & lenses

Grass Valley Cameras Provide Big League Quality at CarMax Park

By David C. Ruckman Vice President of Creative Services and Branding Richmond Flying Squirrels

RICHMOND, Va.—Opening a brand-new, state-of-the-art production facility at CarMax Park for the Richmond Flying Squirrels minor league baseball team presented many challenges and opportunities.

Among them was the allimportant decision of selecting the camera system. Taking the leap from our previous workflow in our old stadium, “The Diamond,” our goal was clear: support productions of home games, live events, LED programming and multiplatform content with a consistent, high-quality production standard that truly sets us apart.

Knowing that the cameras would be in use throughout the

day, reliability, image quality and flexibility were all important factors.

We looked at several options before selecting the Grass Valley LDX 110. During our evaluation, it delivered better performance in low light and other challenging lighting conditions than the alternatives we considered, while remaining within the budget we had set for the project. The Xenios CMOS image sensor consistently delivered the picture quality we were looking for, and the compact camcorder-style design was a good fit for how our operators work on game days.

ALL-ACTION CAPTURE Our production schedule begins when the gates open and finishes after the last fans leave the ballpark. During that time, in addition to the game itself, we’re producing a variety of content including player introductions, fan features, live entertainment, promotions

Opening CarMax Park gave us the opportunity to build a new live production workflow around Grass Valley’s LDX 110 camera system.

and activity around the concourse.

Camera operators are constantly moving between different environments and lighting conditions.

Our fixed cameras, including the high home and centerfield positions, provide the main coverage throughout the game. They produce excellent pictures and give us the consistency we need across the entire production.

The MVP in our live production workflow has been the mobile camera system, a huge upgrade over previous systems deployed. The LDX 110 gives us much more freedom to cover everything happening around the stadium with the same picture and color quality we see on fixed cameras. Operators can move freely around the 360-degree concourse to spend time with fans, react to big moments and capture entertainment occuring on and off the field, all with a consistent high-quality production standard. These shots are critical in telling the story of the fan experience at CarMax Park.

The mobile system is a seamless, natural fit in our workflow with the color-grading system in our control room, allowing our shader full control while the camera operator freely moves around CarMax Park. That combination has made mobile operation far easier than we have experienced in past workflows.

We use the word “consistency” often, as that has probably been the biggest operational improvement seen since opening the venue.

The picture quality and consistency of the LDX 110 systems is big league,

giving our production the polish our fans and partners deserve while allowing our team to stay focused on the live show.

BIG-LEAGUE DELIVERY The response from our fans and community partners has been extremely positive. Fans, colleagues and industry peers who visit CarMax Park often describe our productions as “big league.” That was one of our main objectives when we designed the production facilities, so it is very rewarding to receive that feedback.

Overall, the deployment has exceeded our expectations, and we are already working with Grass Valley and our integration partners to add a second mobile camera system. That decision is based on how much value the first system has added to our productions and how often we now rely on it during a game.

Opening a new ballpark gave us the chance to build the production workflow we wanted from the beginning. The LDX 110 cameras have become an important part of that workflow, helping us produce consistent, professional coverage throughout every game while giving our production team more creative freedom around the stadium. ● David C. Ruckman is vice president of creative services and branding for the Richmond Flying Squirrels and owner-operator of David C. Ruckman Creative LLC. He has produced more than 1,500 professional baseball and NCAA Division I sporting events. Including the CarMax Park opening in April, he has now helped open five ballparks nationwide. He can be reached at david.ruckman@ squirrelsbaseball.com.

More information is available at www.grassvalley.com.

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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Credit: Richmond Flying Squirrels

USER REPORT

equipment guide | cameras & lenses

Show Imaging, Panasonic Bring Broadcast Quality to Comic-Con USER REPORT

By Michael Dupaix Technology Manager Show Imaging

Credit: Show Imaging

SAN DIEGO—Established in San Diego in 2009, Show Imaging was known as the group of producers who refused to say “no” to the crazy and seemingly impossible.

Over the years, Show Imaging has grown to a team of over 200 people nationwide and a community of unique creators who come from every background to build all aspects of premier experiences.

San Diego Comic-Con, one of my favorite events of the year, draws hundreds of thousands of devoted fans across film, television, literature and comics to experience panels, artist showcases and cosplay competitions. Delivering a memorable experience requires reliable, high-quality video capture and

displays to ensure every fan has a front-row seat.

In 2025, Show Imaging partnered with Panasonic to bring that vision to life, providing the production technology needed not only to capture Comic-Con’s iconic panels but also to deliver high-quality video coverage to engage devoted fans and audience members.

IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES Many panels operate on a first-come, first-served basis, so auditoriums fill quickly, including the seats in the back. Our job is to ensure all 6,000 attendees receive a front-row experience, delivering real-time audio and video that keeps every viewer connected to the action regardless of where they’re seated.

That’s why we equipped the room with three Panasonic AW-UE150 4K PTZ Cameras, one AK-UC4000 Studio Camera and

We used three Panasonic AW-UE150 4K PTZ Cameras, one AK-UC4000 Studio Camera and the KAIROS Live Video Production Platform to capture panels at San Diego Comic-Con.

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@tvtech.bsky.social

the Kairos Live Video Production Platform. Designed for fast, intuitive setup, these solutions allowed our team to capture dynamic panels in 4K without having to worry about technical complexity or system reliability.

For close-ups during panel discussions and audience Q&As, Panasonic’s 4K PTZ and studio cameras delivered precise color reproduction and consistent shading, ensuring every attendee—even those watching online—experienced an accurate view of the action on stage.

Panasonic’s AW-UE150 4K PTZ Cameras were particularly instrumental when “Star Wars” creator George Lucas made a surprise appearance to promote the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Attendees not only saw and heard the exclusive announcement of the museum, but also close-up video of Lucas as he shared behind-the-scenes stories and insights about his work, making the panel an unforgettable moment for “Star Wars” fans.

We also deployed 18 Panasonic PT-RQ35 projectors to map content across a 250-foot linear projection screen. Thanks to Panasonic’s interoperable ecosystem, the 4K PTZ cameras and projectors worked seamlessly together to deliver accurate visuals at scale with minimal adjustment. Panasonic’s Kairos Live Production Platform enabled the production team to easily edit, overlay and switch this content across screens in real time.

Kairos can also handle ST 2110 signals directly, dramatically streamlining workflows. Comic-Con is a large-scale live event with many moving parts, and Kairos helped us manage the PTZ cameras, studio cameras, audio inputs and other visuals.

Panasonic’s integrated production ecosystem gave us the flexibility to prioritize storytelling over technical complexity, as illustrated during the “Tron: Ares” panel. A dramatic red laser light show and live stage performance were captured seamlessly

by Panasonic’s PTZ cameras, ensuring audiences experienced every moment from wherever they were seated.

IMAGES AND ENERGY Panasonic’s professional AV solutions enabled our team to immerse Comic-Con attendees in every iconic moment with precise imaging, seamless workflows and reliable performance. Rather than focusing on the technology behind the scenes, our crew could focus on what mattered most: capturing the energy of every panel and delivering an unforgettable experience for fans throughout the venue.

As audience expectations continue to rise, broadcast-quality cameras and production platforms will become even more essential to live events of every size.

Combined with emerging capabilities like AI-powered auto-tracking and live captioning, these technologies will help production teams create more accessible, engaging and immersive experiences to allow every attendee and remote viewer to feel connected to the action, no matter where they are. ● Michael Dupaix is technology manager for Show Imaging, a leading AV production company based in San Diego. Reach him at mdupaix@showimaging.com.

More information is available at https://connect.na.panasonic. com/av/video.

equipment guide | cameras & lenses

Sony Shines a New Light on Underwater Imaging USER REPORT

By Aaron Steiner General Manager, Oceanographic Products, DeepSea Power & Light and Dave Robertson, Senior Video Engineer, Ocean Exploration Trust (OET)

EXTREME TECH Sending exploration tools to depths of 5,000 meters or more requires a unique set of hardware that can survive and operate in extreme temperatures and low light. Space constraints further complicate mounting cameras on remotely operated underwater vehicles and controlling them from confined workspaces aboard an exploration vessel.

In 2019, DeepSea partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to design a camera system that could deliver studio-level imaging quality in these conditions, an idea first championed by MBARI’s

DeepSea partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to design an underwater camera system built around the Sony HDC-P50.

Mark Chaffey. The team sought a camera capable of UHD resolution, HDR and native 12G outputs to integrate with standard broadcast workflows. The Sony HDC-P50 hit the sweet spot for all criteria.

What sealed the deal was the camera’s modular design. DeepSea completely deconstructed and re-engineered its chassis to integrate the HDC-P50’s features into the MxD SeaCam, a broadcastgrade 4K subsea imaging system with a ruggedized pressure housing designed for deep‑ocean exploration, scientific research and underwater filmmaking.

Building the MxD SeaCam around Sony’s proven compact broadcast camera helps us deliver the same imaging performance and control as a full-sized studio system but hardened for thousands of underwater pressure cycles. In 2025, OET and DeepSea brought the camera to sea on the Exploration Vessel Nautilus and tested it under real-world conditions.

A key objective of the Cook Islands expedition was to explore the South Pacific region’s biological and geological diversity and provide information about these environments to the

Cook Islands Government.

ROV-based (remotely operated vehicle) surveys are best suited for filming macro fauna, which is everything large enough to see with the naked eye, or about a few centimeters in size. During the Cook Islands expedition, the camera’s combination of UHD resolution with a faster frame rate to capture more detail per second brought out the finer details of organisms that scientists need to identify species and examine geological patterns. Color is also important, and this HDR system gives us a richer range of hues and spectral information about underwater habitats and environments.

HIGH-RESOLUTION SCIENCE The HDC-P50 will remain an essential part of DeepSea’sMxD system and the team will test and evaluate newer Sony camera versions as our organizations continue to advance deep-sea floor imaging. Only about 28% of the seafloor has been mapped at high resolution. We know more details about the moon’s surface than we do about the ocean floor.

The ocean contains about 99% of our planet’s habitable volume, yet roughly 90% of the species

that live in it have yet to be identified. The visual information we gather with Sony tools is used for high-quality broadcast viewing and permanently stored in public repositories where it remains available to scientists and anyone interested in researching and learning in the future.

For many scientists, the complexity and cost of at-sea research limit their access to the sea floor. With advanced imaging solutions like the Sony HDC-P50 and DeepSea MxD SeaCam as well as OET’s telepresence outreach, researchers worldwide can unlock new ultra-high-resolution views of the deep. The better the quality of the data we can deliver to our audiences, the better they can do their jobs. ● Aaron Steiner is the general manager and director of engineering for oceanographic products at SeeScan and can be reached at aaron.steiner@deepsea.com.

Dave Robertson is a 40-plus-year broadcast engineer and owner of Robertson Technical Services LLC. He can be reached at drobertson @oceanexplorationtrust.org.

More information is available at https://pro.sony/.

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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Credit: DeepSea/OET

SAN DIEGO—When your “broadcast studio” is 5,000 meters below the ocean surface, you have to get creative with your camera technology. That’s what our combined teams at DeepSea Power & Light and Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) did on a deep-sea expedition, modifying Sony’s HDC-P50 POV camera to explore and live-stream UHD content from the ocean depths of the Cook Islands.

Each OET expedition is focused on scientific exploration, visiting never-before-seen parts of the planet, documenting ecosystems in poorly understood ocean regions, discovering new species and sharing this data with the world.

A core part of OET’s mission is education and outreach, using the excitement of discovery to inspire the next generation of explorers.

equipment guide | cameras & lenses

Telycam Explore XE PTZ Cameras Raise the Bar on Curling Coverage USER REPORT

By John Benton Founder and CTO Stadium Sports Network

MINNEAPOLIS—I first founded Curling Stadium, a systems integration firm specializing in deploying livestreaming systems in curling arenas using PTZ cameras and NDI connectivity technology, in 2019. Combining my 25 years of IT experience with my background as an Olympic curler, we installed and managed systems in 23 curling clubs around the world.

Those deployments captured the attention of organizations, including USA Curling and international governing body World Curling. We started getting requests to provide full broadcast production services for major curling events, leading us to evolve into Stadium Sports Network, the full-service production company we are today.

Credit: Stadium Sports

CURLING CHALLENGES We had used a variety of PTZ camera brands over the years, ranging from budget-oriented brands for small clubs to the premium high-end models we rented for larger productions. With our productions for World Curling destined for linear television anywhere in the world, we knew we needed to upgrade our cameras to achieve higher quality while remaining cost-competitive. A tipping point came when we were contracted to produce broadcasts of the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials in South Dakota last November for NBC Sports and Peacock.

Shooting curling involves some unique challenges. For example, when we’re tilting a camera down at the ice, we’re getting a lot of

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The Telycam PTZ cameras helped us deal with bright white ice and the other unique challenges of covering curling.

bright white that blows out the exposure on most of the other cameras we’ve used. The lighting also varies a lot between events depending on the venues—from dimly lit older curling clubs to bright, modern arenas—so we needed cameras with at least a 1-inch sensor as well as exceptional exposure handling.

One of our partner companies recommended we check out Telycam PTZ cameras, and I’m glad we did. After testing their broadcast-class Explore XE model, we purchased three of them.

In our typical workflow, the Telycam cameras output NDI HX3 streams that are delivered to the production center over a 10 Gbps Ubiquiti network.

Switching is done on a computer running vMix software, with Singular Live powering HTML5 graphics and a Behringer X32 audio mixing console.

We use AVKANS controllers for PTZ camera control. Telycam makes its own controllers, but the Telycam cameras support the standard VISCA control protocol and we already owned many AVKANS controllers, so we stuck with them. @tvtech.bsky.social

The Telycam PTZ cameras have been outstanding, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. When I compare them to other manufacturers we’ve used, aspects like color shading and autofocus have been standouts, and the autoexposure has been amazing in overcoming the above challenges.

In fact, we had rented high-end cameras from a big broadcast brand for a previous project, but we found that Telycam’s autoexposure and focus management blew the more expensive cameras out of the water. The Explore XE gives us superior quality and at its price point, we can buy the cameras rather than renting them.

The value we’re getting from them allows us to be competitive at the high end of our market.

PTZ CREATIVITY Curling is also fairly repetitive compared to other sports, so the shots are almost always the same.

We need to be more creative with how we mix in shots with zoom, and the Telycam cameras’ responsiveness with different presets has been valuable.

Most importantly, our broadcast clients have also been happy with the results. We previously heard from skeptics that PTZ cameras couldn’t achieve this level of production quality, but I believe that’s been proven not to be true.

Telycam has also been great to work with. The demo and sales process was smooth and their technical support has been excellent. During one project, we found that we needed a different firmware package, and within an hour, they had responded and new firmware was running on the camera.

We plan to expand to produce multiple broadcasts at the same time, so we’ll be investing in more cameras. Based on our experience, when we do, it will be with Telycam. ● John Benton is founder and chief technology officer of Stadium Sports Network and a past Olympian (curling, Vancouver 2010).

He can be reached at johnb@ stadium-sports.tv.

More information is available at https://telycam.com/.

equipment guide | cameras & lenses buyers briefs ARRI ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme

Canon Multi-Camera Orchestration

ARRI’s new ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme camera brings high-frame-rate output of up to 8x to live productions using traditional SDI workflows. It comes permanently preinstalled with the existing High Speed License for ALEXA 35 and a new High Frame Rate SDI License.

When combined with the ARRI LPS-1 Fiber Camera Adapter and Fiber Base Station (and a standard slow-motion playout server such as SimplyLive or EVS), the camera outputs HFR at up to 8x in HD or 2x in UHD. Up to 4x HFR can be output via a single SDI connector, and higher speeds are split across both SDI outputs. Frame rates of up to 330 frames per second use the camera’s full dynamic range of 17 stops, while a Sensor Overdrive mode enables frame rates of up to 480 fps at a dynamic range of 11 stops. https://www.arri.com/en

Canon’s Multi-Camera Orchestration video-production software enables professional multicamera productions to be operated by a single user.

MCO synchronizes multiple PTZ cameras to one main camera, automating movements and simplifying complex workflows, resulting in a high-quality, multiangle broadcast across news, sports, talk shows, podcasts and other environments.

At the product’s core is an industry-first algorithm driven by two overhead cameras that map the stage, tracking subject positions and head heights in real time. Using this spatial data, a single operator manually controls a main camera while assigning automated “roles” to remote PTZ subcameras.

As the main camera shifts focus, the subcameras autonomously adjust their pan, tilt and zoom to maintain composition. Operators can save these configurations into “Role Sets” for instant, one-button scene changes. www.usa.canon.com

Ikegami Ikegami UHL-X40 Ultra-Compact 3-CMOS 4K-UHD HDR Camera

Kokusai Denki Z-HD6500-S1 Camera System

The lightweight, compact Ikegami UHL-X40 combines full broadcast-quality 3-CMOS imaging and advanced digital processing with versatile remote connectivity. It is optimized for robotic pan-tilt-zoom applications such as concert halls, government chambers, churches and POV sports coverage.

The camera head and CCU can be linked via a pair of fibers up to 6 miles apart. The link includes a 1G Ethernet passthrough for PTZ commands or teleprompter text. The UHL-X40 shares most features of Ikegami’s UNICAMXE series cameras, such as dual optical filter wheels with five positions each for separate control of neutral density and color correction filters, optical vignetting correction plus remote back focus. The CCU can perform simultaneous HD downconversion of the 4K-UHD output plus a 1920 x 1080 native cutout of the central area. www.ikegami.com

Kokusai Denki’s Z-HD6500-S1 borrows design elements from the company’s Z-HD6500 multiformat HD camera, but reinvented as a full-featured native 4K camera. It includes the same ⅔-inch UHD-native sensors as Kokusai Denki’s high-end SK-UHD7000, ensuring uniform image quality across production environments. Its RGB 3-chip technology, with 8.3 million effective pixels per sensor, results in sharp, vibrant images with minimal noise, outstanding color fidelity and remarkable sensitivity, Kokusai Denki said.

The Z-HD6500-S1 incorporates native 4K global shutter technology to eliminate artifacts such as banding and flickering, optimizing performance within broadcast studios that use LED lighting and displays.

The feature set also includes a ¼ ND filter for shallow depth shooting and a low-pass filter to reduce visual patterns or Moiré effects. www.kokusaidenki.us

DJI Ronin 4D-8K The Ronin 4D-8K is an all-in-one 8K cinema camera that integrates DJI’s 4-axis stabilization and delivers a new pinnacle for imaging excellence. With full-frame 8K/60 fps and 4K/120 fps capabilities and DJI Cinema Color Science (DCCS), the camera ensures exceptional image quality. Natural skin tones can be captured in an accurate, aesthetically pleasing way even in complex lighting conditions.

It also includes built-in 9-stop physical ND filters for precise exposure control, DL/E/L/PL/M interchangeable lens mounts for creative freedom, autofocus on manual lenses, and Automated Manual Focus (AMF) with the innovative LiDAR focusing system. The Ronin 4D-8K camera is used in films and TV dramas such as “F1: The Movie,” “Adolescence,” “Warfare” and “Civil War.” www.dji.com/ronin-4d @tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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equipment guide | cameras & lenses

Modernizing Community Media With Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro USER REPORT

By Nate Eldridge Executive Director Portland Media Center

PORTLAND, Maine—Portland Media Center is the nonprofit community media hub for the greater Portland, Maine, area.

We operate two local broadcast stations and two fully equipped production studios that are open to the public.

Our mission is straightforward and a little radical: Everyone has a story worth telling, and everyone deserves the tools, the training and the airtime to tell it. We offer workshops, seminars, and hands-on media production training for everyone from seasoned documentary makers to people who have never so much as touched a camera.

When I walked into the control room for the first time, I saw a love letter to every decade of broadcast technology since 1985. Racks upon racks were assembled over the years with genuine skill and craftsmanship, each piece there for a reason, often because something older needed a translator to talk to something newer.

It worked, but it was clunky. It was difficult to teach, scale and maintain. It was not exactly a system you could confidently put in front of a newcomer and say: “You belong here. This is yours to use. Go tell your story.”

DESIGNING A NEW STUDIO That needed to change and I knew what I wanted. A system that spoke one language, camera to switcher to edit suite—all of it integrated, intuitive and designed to get out of the way and let the storytelling happen.

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We built out the new studio around four Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro live production cameras, an ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO live production switcher, an ATEM Camera Control Panel and four camera converters. The transformation was immediate and dramatic—three full racks of old equipment came out, and the entire Blackmagic Design system went into half of one rack.

The cameras run on Power over Ethernet, delivering clean, timeline-ready files directly to the ATEM. The clutter and complexity are gone, Portland Media Center built a new studio around Blackmagic Design and now we have a studio cameras and equipment. that looks exactly as it is experienced producers have supposed to look. the Blackmagic Studio Camera plenty of depth to explore. We Choosing the Blackmagic Stu4K Pro. The cameras don’t just have shifted from a place that dio Camera 4K Pro was deliberproduce excellent images, they produces programming to a place ate. For a nonprofit operating on simplify complex productions, that produces producers. a community media budget, cost make professional broadcasting matters, but so does performance accessible and allow our nonand teachability. profit to do more with limited SIMPLIFIED DEBATES The Blackmagic Studio Camera resources. By modernizing our The proof came in the form 4K Pro delivers on all three. Color infrastructure, we’ve strengthof a recent live gubernatorial correction is intuitive whether ened our ability to serve the debate. Five candidates— you are working in camera or community and ensure that including one appearing through the CCU. The switched more local voices can be seen remotely—as well as two hosts feed integrates flawlessly into and heard. ● and a live studio audience of 65, DaVinci Resolve Studio and were delivered simultaneously Fairlight, producing a pipeline to broadcast, video-on-demand Nate Eldridge is executive that feels less like a workaround and YouTube. It was exactly director of Portland Media Center. and more like it was designed by the kind of high-stakes civic He has more than two decades of someone who actually thought production that used to require experience in visual storytelling, about how these things connect crossing your fingers and hoping broadcast production and brand (because it was). Files arrive nothing went sideways. strategy. He can be reached at already embedded in a timeline, Nothing did. The Blackmagic pmc@portlandmedia.org. ready to go. In a pinch, the entire Design system handled every More information about system can be run by a single element with zero drama and the center is available at operator. delivered a production we were https://portlandmedia.org/.

Perhaps more importantly for genuinely proud of. Having the More information is available our mission, the system is easy right tools meant it looked as by contacting Blackmagic Design to teach. New creators can get important as it was. at 408-954-0500 or by visiting up to speed quickly, while more For us, that’s the real value of www.blackmagicdesign.com. @tvtech.bsky.social

equipment guide | cameras & lenses buyers briefs Marshall Electronics CV520 IP and 3G-SDI POV Camera

Fujifilm Fujinon LA30x7.8BRM

The CV520 POV Camera is a new IP and 3G-SDI solution that delivers flexible lens options with advanced streaming capabilities. At its core is a 2.12-megapixel 1/2.86-inch Full HD sensor capable of delivering up to 1920 x 1080p60 video simultaneously over both IP and 3G-SDI. This dualoutput capability allows production teams to support traditional broadcast workflows alongside IP-based systems.

The CV520 supports RTSP, RTMP and SRT streaming protocols along with H.264 and HEVC codecs for efficient, low-latency video transmission. The interchangeable M12 lens mount system provides added flexibility,and the included 4.0-mm lens offers an 80-degree horizontal angle of view effective for wide POV capture, streaming environments, immersive experiences, robotics and fixed-position installations. https://marshall-usa.com

The Fujinon LA30x7.8BRM 4K broadcast zoom lens ) is designed to combine portability, ease of use and superior performance at an affordable price, continuing the legacy of its predecessor, the Fujinon LA16x8BRM 4K broadcast zoom lens.

The LA30x7.8 is a portable zoom lens for ⅔-inch sensor broadcast cameras, featuring a 30x zoom, covering the focal range from 7.8 millimeters to 234 mm. Its compact (190 mm), lightweight (1.7 kg) design enables high mobility and versatility for production. When receiving autofocus commands from the camera, the lens shows minimal focus breathing and operates quietly, due to its rear-focus mechanism design. LA30x7.8 also features a newly developed drive unit with high-resolution 16-bit encoders designed for accurate position detection and control in virtual and remote production, helping to streamline production operations. www.fujifilm.com/us/en

Zeiss Aatma Lenses Aatma full-frame cinema primes deliver the emotional character of classic Zeiss glass, reimagined through modern optical engineering, to deliver the mechanical reliability, data integration and workflow compatibility required today. Instead of treating the “vintage aesthetic” as something from the past, Zeiss identified what gives its heritage lenses their “soul” and deliberately re-engineered those qualities to present-day standards. The set of nine T1.5 primes (18, 25, 35, 40, 50, 65, 85, 100 and 135 mm) captures softly rendered skin tones, painterly focus transitions and rich soap-bubble bokeh while delivering consistency across every focal length.

The compact, lightweight Aatmas are set-ready for a range of productions from streaming narratives to commercials. Plus, Zeiss eXtended Data (XD) and CinCraft ecosystem integration optimizes Aatmas for visual effects, camera tracking, and virtual production workflows. www.zeiss.com

products & services marketplace

@tvtech.bsky.social | www.tvtech.com | August 2026

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people on the move For possible inclusion, send information to tvtech@futurenet.com with People News in the subject line.

BRITTNEY BOSTON

KATHY SAMUELS

NEIL HILLIER

MARK HADLEY

Gravity Media USA

Broadcast Management Group

Adder Technology

TitanTV

Gravity Media USA, a provider of production, content and media services and facilities, has hired Brittney Boston as head of business development. Based in Nashville, Boston will lead its business development strategy and drive revenue growth across its RF and wireless solutions, production flypack services and production and managed services offerings. Prior to joining Gravity, Boston founded and operated consultancy Supreme Republic Entertainment.

Production, creative services and broadcast managed services firm Broadcast Management Group has appointed Kathy Samuels director of creative services. She’ll lead BMG’s Creative Services division, helping clients develop, execute, and distribute live broadcasts, streaming channels, sports programming, brand activations, live events, enterprise communications and audience experiences. A former producer and showrunner, she most recently was strategic accounts manager for BMG.

Adder Technology, an IP, KVM and connectivity solutions provider, has tapped Neil Hillier as CEO. Hillier’s appointment to succeed Adrian Dickens atop the company is part of a planned leadership transition that also includes changes to Adder’s executive structure intended to support its continued growth, innovation and global expansion.

Dickens steps down as CEO after 42 years and will transition to founder and executive chair. Chief Technology Officer Nigel Dickens will also shift to emeritus CTO.

TitanTV has hired Mark Hadley as technology specialist, a new role supporting TitanTV’s technology infrastructure. Hadley brings a strong foundation in network and systems administration, server infrastructure, virtualization, technical support, enterprise networking, routing and security to the new post, TitanTV said. He is an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, a CompTIA Security+ certified professional and has completed the full Cisco Networking Academy CCNA coursework.

ROBERT LYDICK MELISSA MEDALIE

AXEL GALLANT

Fox Television Stations

Fox Television Stations has named Robert Lydick senior vice president of engineering, operations and technology. He succeeds Tim Joyce, who retired from the station group at the end of June, and reports to FTS CEO Jack Abernethy. Lydick had ben an engineering, technology and operations executive with station group Tegna for 15 years, most recently as VP of station operations and technology.

FTS also elevated Melissa Medalie to senior vice president and regional general manger of its Florida properties: WTVT Tampa-St. Petersburg, WOFL-WRBW Orlando and WOGX Gainesville. She succeeds Jeff Mahoney, who retired from that role at the end of last month after 30 years. A 17-year veteran of WOFL, Medalie had been vice president and news director of WOFL and WOGX since 2019.

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@tvtech.bsky.social

KURT RAO

Irdeto

Tegna

Axel Gallant has been named CEO of Irdeto, a digital platform cybersecurity firm owned by French media company Canal+.

Gallant succeeds Doug Lowther, who had served as Irdeto’s CEO since 2015 and will step down from the company. Gallant has worked at The Canal+ Group since 2013, managing various pay TV businesses across Africa, Europe and Asia. Lowther and Gallant will work together to ensure a seamless leadership transition for customers, partners and employees, the company said.

Kurt Rao was named executive vice president and chief technology and digital products officer at Tegna, a new post. He’ll lead the end-to-end strategy and execution for Tegna’s digital products and technology platforms, uniting product management, technology, engineering and operations to deliver local news and information across broadcast, streaming, mobile and digital platforms. Rao joined Tegna in 2018 as senior vice president and chief technology officer, overseeing all facets of its technology strategy.

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