Mike Burk at LTN explains why a single, world-feed broadcast no longer meets the needs of a global audience

IP-based technologies enable cost-effective regionalization

Rights owners, broadcasters and big tech are fighting for audience share on traditional and streaming platforms, amid high churn rates and rising rights costs.

The sports broadcasting industry is experiencing a seismic shift, driven by the rapid rise of digital-native players like Amazon, Apple, and Netflix.

To stay competitive, long-established media companies are pushing to embrace new technologies and business models that increase operational efficiency and retain audiences.

The legacy traffic, scheduling, and ad management systems that were designed for traditional broadcast environments aren’t equipped to handle the scale and complexity of today’s multi-platform global distribution needs.

As sports leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters push to grow their international footprint, hyper-regionalisation has emerged as a crucial strategy.

Gone are the days when a single, world-feed broadcast could meet the needs of a global audience.

Viewers expect personalised, localised content that speaks directly to their interests, and of course, speaks their own language.

Highly flexible IP-based distribution is essential to enabling regionalisation at scale, empowering rights holders to easily and cost-effectively spin up multiple live event feeds from the same core linear broadcast, tailoring those feeds with the right audio, graphics, and platform-specific formatting requirements.

Highly localised ad targeting capabilities enabled by intelligent IP distribution mechanisms empower hyper-regionalisation, allowing broadcasters to tailor their content with an even more granular, regional focus, ensuring global viewers enjoy unique and engaging experiences.

Hyper-regionalisation is particularly valuable for major sports leagues looking to monetise live sports distribution on a global scale through multiple distribution channels.

By delivering region-specific content — such as local commentary, local advertisements, and custom graphics — broadcasters can deepen engagement and drive higher ROI from their sports broadcasts.

Keeping up with the pace of change in live sports broadcasting is difficult. And today, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Maximising ROI and capturing new global audiences without incurring heavy financial risk is essential. Embracing IP-based technologies to better monetise live sports distribution and champion new levels of regionalisation is emerging as a winning strategy.

Mike

 Mike Burk is general manager, managed solutions at LTN