When we discuss rethinking broadcasting in a streaming world, we all acknowledge that we’ve redefined what TV really is. It’s now a content-first, consumer-choice smorgasbord, and streaming companies -- whether digitally native streaming behemoths like Netflix, or latecomer niche players or broadcasters who didn’t realize the streaming wave was a tsunami -- exist to cater to them. 

Sometime during the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic, video streaming, which had already gained a foothold in terms of mass-market entertainment, took a big lead over linear TV. Consumers started cutting the cord en masse, as they’d long been predicted to do. A proliferation of digital-first content providers and robust streaming technology coupled with people being stuck in their homes for what felt like infinity created the perfect conditions for OTT video streaming to take what’s traditionally been the domain of TV broadcasters by storm.

­Now that the dust has settled on this year’s IBC show, we at Varnish wanted to highlight some key trends that we saw and heard being discussed at the conference and on the show floor for those of you who may not have been able to make the trek to Amsterdam. This year, it was just as interesting to see what didn’t end up making a prominent appearance at the event as what did. Here are our five key observations: