IBC has revealed the finalists for the IBC2025 Innovation Awards, recognizing collaborative projects that address real-world challenges and deliver transformative innovation across the media, entertainment, and technology sectors.
The awards span five categories: Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact, and Environment & Sustainability, celebrating both technical excellence and social progress in a single ceremony dedicated to the global advancement of the industry.
We are very grateful to our panel of judges for their wisdom and vision in selecting the finalists, as the standard of entries received from around the world was exceptionally high this year. Innovation never sleeps, and this year we clearly see an evolution beyond the technology shifts forced by the COVID-19 pandemic towards a more refined innovation across the ecosystem of electronic content creation, distribution, and consumption, often driven by advancements in AI, hybrid workflows, and cloud-based technologies, said Fergal Ringrose, Chair of the 2025 Innovation Awards Jury.
The winners of the IBC2025 Innovation Awards will be announced on Sunday, 14 September at 18:00 CEST on the main stage of the IBC Conference at RAI Amsterdam.
2025 Finalists
Content Creation
- MBC, Pixtree, and SK Telecom – AI-assisted remastering. Commercialization of an AI-based video remastering system for Korean broadcaster MBC, in collaboration with Pixtree and SK Telecom.
- IP-based multiviewer editorial workflow for Paris 2024. For NBC Olympics' gymnastics coverage at Paris 2024: over 60 live sources captured in a mosaic-style editorial workflow. With Avid, EVS, and NEP.
- Deep Ocean: Kingdom of the Coelacanth. Produced by NHK Japan in co-production with ZDF/ARTE and OceanX, in collaboration with CMMAI. Captured in 8K and 22.2 audio, it presents the world’s first video of a group of coelacanths. Technical support from GOTO Aquatics, SGO, and Restar.
Content Distribution
- Crunchyroll Anime Awards – Localization and distribution. Tokyo event streamed live to the global anime community, combining dubbing studios and scalable streaming. With Amagi, AWS, Bridge Digital, and Pixelogic.
- Sky MediaMesh – Transformed broadcast operations. Cloud-native, modular, API-driven platform integrated with broadcasters' workflows across Europe. With AWS, SDVI, Telestream, and TMT Insights.
- OBS hybrid streaming for Paris 2024. Olympic Broadcasting Services, with Alibaba Cloud, transformed sports streaming by combining traditional infrastructure with a direct cloud-based path from venue to viewer.
Content Everywhere
- Claro tv+ and Omni Devices – Uniting football passion. Remote control with a button showing the user’s favorite team crest, taking them directly to the live match on any channel or app. Technical support: Gracenote and Teleidea Middleware.
- SVT-AV1 – Alliance for Open Media, Intel, and Meta. Enabled viable video streaming on low-end mobile devices and low-bandwidth networks through a decoder-aware mode of the SVT-AV1 encoder.
- Pilipinas Live Shorts – Vertical scroll with user-generated content (UGC). OTT platform by Cignal, powered by Quickplay Shorts and Twelve Labs, using AI to identify, clip, and adapt VOD and Live-to-VOD content, while also integrating UGC into the feed.
Social Impact
- Neurodiversity mentoring program. A global initiative led by Media Talent Manifesto to support neurodivergent professionals in media and broadcasting. Supported by Deluxe, Molinare, and Vizrt.
- Amplifying riverside voices in the Amazon. SOUV by SNEWS allows newsrooms to receive real-time content from underserved regions through mobile contribution. In partnership with Rede Amazônica.
- Citizen justice through technology. The Mobile Justice app, developed with the ACLU, enables users to document law enforcement encounters in real time and upload evidence for review. With Jotto, Quadrant2, and Wowza.
- France Télévisions – Transparency and trust in journalism. First broadcaster to implement C2PA content verification in its daily Journal de 20h workflow. In partnership with Dalet.
Environment & Sustainability
- Evoke 5000B by Nanlux. Lighting solution for film and TV delivering similar output to a 20,000W tungsten lamp from just 5,000W in LED, with up to 75% energy savings and battery support.
- World-first sustainable live broadcast solution – NPU-based UHD upscaling. Korea’s SK Telecom, with Pixtree, developed an NPU-powered UHD live upscaler integrated into SK Broadband’s IPTV (Btv), reducing energy use by 80% and preventing 3,728 tons of CO₂eq annually.
- Green Film Shooting. An independent initiative in Germany promoting innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency, conserve resources, and reduce emissions in the audiovisual industry.
The awards ceremony will also include the IBC International Honour for Excellence, which recognises outstanding contributions to the industry, and the Best Technical Paper award, selected from peer-reviewed papers presented at the IBC Conference from 12–14 September 2025.
