It’s that time of the year when, for many, their thoughts turn to, hopefully, lovely autumn weather in Amsterdam, say, Sept. 11–14. A stroll by the RAI Amsterdam over to IBC2026 might be on the agenda.
As the broadcast industry evolves, the show organizers adapt, saying, “The world’s leading broadcasters, content owners, rightsholders and solution providers come together at IBC for focused conversations, active collaboration and business that moves forward — creating the moments that matter.”
Like the NAB Show in the United States, this show’s content is becoming difficult to pigeonhole as communication technology blooms on numerous fronts. Besides traditional RF broadcasting, there’s streaming and now talks of 5G broadcasting directed at smartphones. Program formats have moved from traditionally defined scheduled TV and radio shows to recorded podcasts of varying lengths and live-streams for anything where a smartphone or a tiny HD camera can go.
Today’s “broadcaster” is awash in a sea of plenty. Great opportunities but also dragons, so sailors need to beware.
In addition, IBC2026 will put more on the table when it comes to nontraditional show items, such as the growing amount of audience research and data becoming available. The same goes for commercial/monetization options exploding within the streaming ecosphere.
For the engineering and tech crowd, besides the goodies on the show floor, there will be technology papers and presentations galore to keep up with technological change.
There’ll be numerous venues for ogling new technologies coming and presentations on how they’ll affect the broadcast world. Planned are IBC Innovation Awards and an Accelerator Zone along with a space in Hall 14 dedicated to Future Tech. A few edgier items might include content authentication, immersive audio formats and interactive content formats. Things no one thought about a decade ago.
Hall 14 will also house the IBC Talent Programme, which focuses on the problem that can never seem to go away — finding (and training) the next generation of media personnel.
Of course, there will also be plenty of floor space and discussion on those once “new” technologies, all of a show or two ago, that are now everywhere, like AI, IP and the cloud.
It will all be there for those who take the time to attend.
This story originally appeared in the July/August 2026 edition of RedTech Magazine. You can read or download that edition for free here.
You can access all past RedTech publications, also for free, here.
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