Soccer leads women’s sports into bidding wars, AI driven by the market, an Olympics in front of crowds and opportunities for the neurodiverse – all trends to spot in the new year, predicts Adrian Pennington.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in August attracted record viewing figures pretty much everywhere, underlining a breakthrough year for women’s sport.
Spain defeated England 1-0 in the final in Sydney, with a record 12 million viewers watching in the UK on BBC One (higher than the men’s Wimbledon final last July which peaked at 11.3 million).
In Spain, 5.6 million watched the final, and it peaked at 7.4 million viewers, with data published by Barlovento Comunicacion saying that 56.2% of the Spanish television audience were male.
The tournament contributed to an...
You are not signed in
Only registered users can read the rest of this article.
Closing the security execution gap: “We are in a crisis… we collectively need to be aware”
Gathering at an IBC Roundtable, the industry’s top security experts confronted the 2026 TPN Star Report’s urgent results, the sharp increase in threat exposure, and the missing execution step for broadcasters, studios, and service providers alike.
The dish is not dead: Why the future of TV delivery is hybrid
IP is clearly gaining ground. Yet, infrastructure and distribution specialists suggest that it’s no silver bullet for the reliable, personalised, instantaneous delivery that today’s audiences demand. In this context, has satellite lost relevance, or is it simply no longer the only player in orbit?
World AI Film Festival: “There is no emotion in AI”
The World AI Film Festival fielded new and established storytelling voices, but the jury is out on whether AI can capture the human spirit of cinema. Adrian Pennington reports.
IBC Content Everywhere: Cloud adoption reaches a critical point
The adoption of cloud-based working practices is an ongoing process within the Content Everywhere industry. While most streaming companies have embraced the cloud, there have been concerns in the past about a lack of strategic focus and whether providers are adopting cloud-native solutions rather than relying on virtualised or cloud-ready solutions.
Virtual production after the hype: Where it actually works now
Virtual production is no longer being treated purely as spectacle or novelty – it is becoming a production tool, with clear strengths, clear limits, and a growing body of experience around how to use it well across a range of budgets. IBC365 investigates.



