IBC announced that its most prestigious accolade, the International Honour for Excellence (IHFE), was awarded to Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) for its decades of innovation in live sports production and its far-reaching impact on the global broadcasting industry.
IBC also announced the winners of its Best Technical Paper Award, which recognises research aimed at reducing interaction barriers for older viewers using internet-delivered television.
IBC2026 brought together the global media, entertainment and technology community at RAI Amsterdam. The event welcomed professionals from more than 170 countries to collaborate, exchange knowledge and explore the technologies, ideas and opportunities shaping the future of media and entertainment.
IHFE recognises OBS's impact on live sports production and broadcasting
For decades, OBS has established itself as a benchmark for innovation in live sports production, pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible. Through pioneering advances in ultra-high-definition production, immersive audio, remote production workflows, artificial intelligence, cloud technologies and next-generation storytelling, OBS has transformed the way audiences around the world experience the Olympic Games.
Beyond its technical achievements, OBS has played a key role in raising standards across the audiovisual industry. Innovations developed to meet the specific demands of the Olympic Games have frequently become catalysts for industry-wide adoption, influencing broadcasters, technology partners, manufacturers and production teams across every genre of live television.
We are honoured to receive this award and grateful to IBC for this recognition. This distinction pays tribute to the passion, expertise and dedication of everyone at Olympic Broadcasting Services, whose work enables us to bring the Olympic Games to audiences around the world. It recognises the team's commitment to innovation, excellence and service to the Olympic Movement as we continually seek new ways to improve coverage of the Games and the viewer experience. We are proud to receive this award from IBC, whose role as a meeting point for the international broadcasting community is widely recognised, said Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of OBS.
OBS has previously received multiple awards from the audiovisual and sports industries. At IBC, these honours include the IBC2024 Innovation Award in the Content Creation category, presented to OBS and its technology partners for the live production of the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, which used more than 200 smartphones to provide footage, and a maritime 5G network for the Olympic sailing competitions held in Marseille.
Best Technical Paper Award recognises age-informed design for internet-delivered television
Emma Maier, Jodie Pearton, Anna Stewart, Arina Mnatsakanyan and Jonathan Freeman, from i2 media research, received the prestigious IBC2026 Best Technical Paper Award for their paper entitled Measuring and reducing interaction barriers in internet-delivered TV systems through age-informed human factors design.
The paper examines how to make internet-delivered television easier to use for older viewers, enabling them to access everyday services with confidence. Through observational testing conducted with adults aged between 65 and 89 at i2 media research's laboratory at Goldsmiths, University of London, it identifies how certain design barriers — such as a lack of hierarchy, layered menus, unclear responses and unfamiliar terminology — can make everyday tasks more difficult than expected. It then demonstrates how a simple, optional and age-informed overlay interface can reduce these barriers and support a more independent and confident viewing experience.
Among the many excellent papers presented at this year's IBC Technical Conference, this paper on making television easier to use for older viewers presents a well-designed and well-executed scientific study. It is highly relevant to the current debate on how to move towards greater internet delivery of content while maintaining the public-service objectives of universal coverage and access. We will also be able to enjoy a wide range of high-quality papers from the audiovisual industry and academia, including organisations such as the BBC in the United Kingdom, NHK in Japan, RAI in Italy and RTÉ in Ireland, said Andrew Dumbreck, Chair of the IBC2026 Technical Papers Committee.
The IBC2026 Technical Papers Programme brought together the media and broadcasting technology community to examine the direction technology should take within the industry. It included original research into solutions for real-world challenges facing the international broadcasting and digital media sectors. This year, its scope was expanded to include papers on technology policy alongside traditional technical papers, with sessions focusing on AI-enabled production, coding, trust and provenance, XR and multiview, the future of television distribution, the evolution of dynamic media infrastructures and AI-powered indexing.
