At our recent TV Tech webinar, “The Shape of Things to Come: Live Production in 2035,” Simon Hawkings (Ross Video), Nick Kumar (Keycode Media), and Ian McSpadden (Arizona Public Media) agreed on a central point: no single technology will define the future of live production.
The takeaway was practical: broadcasters do not need to predict the next decade in detail. They need systems, teams, and facilities that can adapt as production changes.
Here are four key takeaways you can use to prepare for what’s next.
1. IP is becoming the foundation for flexibility
One major theme was the shift from SDI to IP. Hawkings described an industry in transition. SDI is still common, but most new systems are now built for IP.
“IP is overtaking SDI,” he said, adding that SDI is “still kind of the engine that’s running a lot of production around the world.”
For broadcasters, the point is not simply to replace one transport standard with another. IP creates the foundation for more flexible production models, including software-defined workflows, virtualization, remote production, and easier scaling.
Kumar connected this shift to facility design. With IP infrastructure and virtualization, broadcasters can move from rigid, purpose-built SDI workflows to more flexible, software-defined approaches.
The shift matters for new projects like Arizona Public Media’s Paul and Alice Baker Center. Rather than a partial step, AZPM built a fully IP-based facility. McSpadden said, “we can actually do the whole thing 2110.”
2. Future-ready matters more than future-proof
One of the strongest ideas in the webinar came from McSpadden, who pushed back on the familiar phrase “future-proof.”
“You can’t future-proof something,” he said. AZPM instead focused on current needs, near-term goals, and what was reasonably possible in the long term.
They thought beyond equipment: designing for fiber, power, cooling, data, and adaptable spaces. McSpadden said studios with green screens today may use LED volumes later, requiring “a whole lot more power and a whole lot more air conditioning.”
Kumar agreed. For a facility meant to last beyond 2035, “flexibility and scalability become core design principles from day one.” The message for broadcasters is simple: do not build around a single workflow. Build around the ability to change workflows.
The shape of things to come: Live production in 2035 | A TVTech exclusive webinar
3. AI will assist production, not replace human decision-making
AI came up throughout the webinar, but the panel kept the conversation grounded. Hawkings called AI ‘probably the most transformational technology that we will see,’ but focused on its near-term value as an assistive tool.
Practically, this means AI helps with tasks like transcription, metadata, captioning, clipping, archive search, rough cuts, and packaging. Hawkings pointed to tools that automatically edit based on transcription, freeing editors to focus on their craft.
Kumar added that AI can personalize viewing, creating content around specific interests, teams, or topics. Viewers may eventually get “more personalized experiences” instead of a single linear feed.
But when the conversation turned to live sports, news, and master control, the panelists agreed: people are essential. Hawkings said it is hard to replace ‘that feel that directors and producers have on a live show.’ Kumar added that live television still depends on human editorial judgment and storytelling.
Vision 2035
Explore what’s ahead for live production through expert opinion. Leaders across news, sports, entertainment, and live events, all sharing their vision for what production will look like in the next decade.
4. The future is hybrid, not all-cloud
The panelists took a practical view of cloud production. Cloud offers real value for archiving, disaster recovery, transcoding, remote production, and scaling up during major events. But not every workload belongs in the cloud.
As Kumar put it, ‘Different workloads belong in different places.’ Latency-sensitive live production and core operational systems may still work best on-premises, while the cloud can support burst capacity and flexible services.
Hawkings called this a more realistic, pragmatic approach to cloud. Broadcasters should choose the right technology for each challenge, not just follow the latest trend.
That is the bigger lesson from the webinar. The future of live production is not about betting everything on IP, cloud, AI, or software alone. It is about combining these tools to help your team create more content, work more efficiently, and stay ready for whatever lies ahead.