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.
Innovation Awards: Collaboration and open standards triumph
The winners of the IBC Innovation Awards were revealed at an event at the Amsterdam RAI, honouring collaborative projects tackling some of the industry's biggest challenges.
IBC2026: What to look out for on Day 4
As the final day of IBC2026 draws near, visitors seize the last opportunity of the year to network, solidify partnerships, and soak up the last of the available innovative learnings across IBC2025’s 14 halls
IBC Technical Papers 2026: Complete list of tech papers
The IBC Technical Papers Programme features original, novel research on solutions to real-world problems faced by the international broadcast and digital media industry.
IBC2026: What to look out for on Day 3
As day three of IBC2026 begins, the expert insights are in full flow, revealing groundbreaking technology demonstrations and discussions across the industry.
The end of MrBeast? Why 100 micro‑influencers are more effective than one mega‑influencer
The number one creator in the world is MrBeast, right? Wrong. It is Blair Imani who tops the 100 Creators on the Planet, according to the Affinity Score unveiled exclusively at IBC.

.jpg)
.jpg)