ISE 2025 and Broadcast/AV convergence
What ISE 2025 tells us about convergence and a comprehensive analysis of this trend
In this article, I have rounded up a few pieces I have written on the topic of Broadcast/AV convergence ahead of and after ISE 2025. I have analysed this topic in a series of three articles, looking at it through the lens of ISE 2025, an important AV exhibition that has significantly grown in the last few years. The articles have been re-adapted to suit this blog and put together to form a compilation of insights (some of which are only loosely connected) on the topic of Broadcast/AV convergence.
Part 1: State of Broadcast/AV convergence
ISE is the perfect place to assess the evolution of convergence between broadcast and pro-AV technology, a trend that has become increasingly important in recent years. Whether you're a regular ISE attendee or monitoring industry developments, understanding these dynamics is becoming crucial. Let’s start with some context about ISE’s growth in the last few years and the key trends that have driven it.
ISE’s recent growth and its drivers
ISE’s Mike Blackman told invidis in a November interview that ISE 2025 would be at least 20% larger than the 2024 show (in terms of exhibition space). 2024 had been the most successful in the show’s history and delivered a 27% increase in attendance on the 2023 edition. 2025 became another record year for ISE, delivering over 80K attendees and about a 15% growth over 2024.
The pandemic was a key turning point for ISE, as for other trade shows. While ISE suffered from an inevitable decline in attendance in its first post-pandemic edition in 2022, it rebounded significantly between 2023 and 2025. This rebound was arguably led by pandemic-driven forces such as the rising investment in corporate video and communications caused by the move to remote and hybrid work environments. You can see the historical trend in ISE attendance in the chart below:
The recent growth of ISE highlights the health of the pro-AV segment, but what does it say about the convergence between broadcast and pro-AV? The pandemic-driven forces cited above have gradually made broadcast technology more attractive to AV users looking to upgrade the quality of their systems, which has led broadcast technology suppliers to show increasing interest in the AV market.
It is also useful to note that convergence is operating both ways, as broadcasters have gradually adopted some AV technology and, more generally, technology used in non-broadcast industries, at accelerating pace after the pandemic.
But back to ISE. There is one part of the show which might help us better understand the direction of this convergence.
Analysis of the “AV Broadcast” Hall
A portion of Hall 4 at the show is dedicated to broadcast technology. This has been rebranded to “AV Broadcast” from “Content Production & Distribution” in 2025, which may signal an effort to blend broadcast technology within the AV landscape further.
Tracking this part of the exhibition over time is a good indicator of convergence progress, and particularly of which broadcast technology is finding its place in AV (and how). However, it is important to point out that not all broadcast technology resides in this part of the exhibition, as some is also scattered around Hall 5, for example.
First, let’s take a snapshot of the types of companies exhibiting in this hall. I conducted a detailed profiling analysis of the companies exhibiting in the "AV Broadcast" Hall at ISE 2025 to find out which segments dominated the floor. I analysed the companies’ business profiles and product portfolios to categorize them into one of four main segments. You can see what I found in the figure below:
Here’s a summary:
39% of companies are in the Streaming and Connectivity segment. These companies provide solutions for video transport, encoding, decoding, and live streaming.
37% of companies are in the Content Acquisition and Production segment. These companies provide tools for capturing, creating, and editing audiovisual content.
15% of companies are in the Immersive and Display segment. These companies provide technologies like AR/VR, holographic displays, and advanced monitors.
9% of companies are in the Audio segment. These companies provide products such as mixing consoles, microphones, and audio signal processing.
This classification largely resonated with my previous beliefs, even though I was perhaps expecting content creation to be more dominant than streaming on the show floor.
The analysis also highlights sectors that may be underrepresented at the show, which may represent an opportunity if you are a broadcast vendor looking to expand into AV as convergence further progresses.
Analysis of Floorspace Trends in the “AV Broadcast” Hall
I also wanted to share some observations on the floor map changes I noticed between 2024 and 2025. Note that this not a perfect analysis, but still, it provides some valuable insights:
Some broadcast tech suppliers (e.g., Ross Video) have transitioned to Hall 4 this year. This could reflect a move to further centralize solutions coming from broadcast. It certainly helps navigation for buyers (and for analysts)!
Some suppliers like Blackmagic Design seem to have expanded their floor space this year. Though most seem to have kept a similar booth space as in 2024 even if the overall show is growing, as mentioned earlier.
There are some new suppliers exhibiting this year (e.g., Grass Valley). And there are also a few vendors that have vanished from the map in 2025.
My main takeaway from observations is that convergence is still a trend in flux, with companies coming from the broadcast industry still experimenting with strategies to engage the AV market effectively. Yes, while convergence is on the rise but, companies need time to adapt to the AV market.
Approaching the AV Market Effectively
Conversations with broadcast tech suppliers about the AV sector have often revealed mixed experiences. While some are energized by the opportunities provided by this new market, others express frustration over the mismatch between investments (including ISE) and returns.
The AV market should not be approached in the same way as the broadcast market. Success often comes from recognizing and understanding the distinct demands of the AV sector.
Here’s a short checklist for broadcast technology suppliers attending the show or considering entering the AV market (while it is not exhaustive, it may provide a framework to get started or review your strategy):
Do your research: Study AV trends, buyer priorities, and tech investments. This foundation drives everything else.
Focus on UI/UX & simplicity: Design solutions that are easy to use and don’t always assume deep technical expertise.
Educate your users: Provide training, resources, and great product documentation relevant to AV.
Highlight integration: Showcase how your products can easily fit into AV infrastructures and workflows.
Update your messaging: Tailor marketing to address AV buyer needs across various sectors and preferably drive this effort with research.
Partner up: Consider partnerships with integrators, consultants, and distributors to penetrate the market.
Adapt to changing buyers: Recognize that AV purchasing decisions, like in broadcast, are increasingly spread across departments, not centralized in engineering.
Part 2: Key drivers of Broadcast/AV convergence
The second part of my analysis focuses more significantly on the ISE visitor base and the key drivers of Broadcast/AV convergence. Let’s get right into the analysis.
ISE visitor profile
ISE published some information about the profile of its 2025 visitor base on its website.
The report has many useful data points, including some demographic information (e.g., age, gender, etc.). However, I wanted to dive deep only into the section “Business Focus - End-User,” which provides more details about the main areas of focus for ISE end-user visitors. I illustrated this data in Figure 3 below:
You can see that there is some degree of overlap between broadcast and pro-AV, as one-tenth of end-users attending the show in 2025 identified themselves as “Broadcast/Media.” 15% identified themselves as “Entertainment (includes cinemas, theatres, museums, theme parks).” This is not broadcast, though, some of it is closer to broadcast compared to other corporate organizations attending the show. The rest of the show is split between corporate buyers (these buyers add up to almost half of total end-users) and users from the education sector (almost one-fifth of buyers). It is a very composite audience!
And it is useful to highlight that the data illustrated in Figure 3 is representative only of the end-user audience at the show, which accounts for 30% of the total attendance! The other 70% is represented by “Channels,” organizations who recommend solutions to end-users such as system integrators, consultants, re-sellers, etc. This split is consistent across ISE and InfoComm and adds another layer of complexity related to the nature of the audience (i.e., messaging should be tailored to address the needs of these disparate audiences).
The ISE audience has been fluctuating in the last few years. The data on this is not as straightforward though we know that ISE has consistently delivered a significant number of first-time attendees over the last few years. About a third of the 2024 attendees were first-time attendees, like in 2019, highlighting that the audience attending the show may be in flux. Of course, first-time attendees are bound to be correlated with the growth of the show, though these numbers suggest that interest in ISE is coming from a variety of sectors and that the demographic attending the event is evolving.
The show is becoming more diverse from a job role perspective as well. Conversations with regular ISE attendees have highlighted that AV users visiting the show are no longer coming solely from technical departments such as engineering, but increasingly from non-technical departments such as marketing and communications.
The ISE visitor audience's mixed nature reinforces the relevance of convergence at the show. The broad range of attendees from different industries and backgrounds underscores the demand for solutions that can be applied across disparate sectors and teams.
The fragmentation of investment power is akin to the trend we are witnessing in the broadcast sector where non-technical departments such as creative and editorial teams are becoming more important decision-makers.
Technology investment decisions are now dispersed across different teams due to the increasing accessibility of technology tools and their closer relationship with business outcomes (e.g., consumer experiences), which has led to a gradual deterioration of siloed decision-making.
This is a key trend that applies not only to the people making the decisions. Why is technology becoming more accessible?
Why Broadcast tech is becoming more accessible
A clarification. When I use the word accessibility here, I mean the usability of broadcast technology by non-technical users.
Several trends have been driving the increasing accessibility of broadcast technology in the last few years, and I will focus here on some of the main ones
Arguably, the main driver of technology accessibility in broadcast has been the rising importance of general-purpose technologies (e.g., cloud, AI, etc.) coming from the IT and software industry. This trend is relevant to most sectors that, like broadcast, were used to a specific set of technologies designed to please (only) them.
In the last few years, both broadcast and AV technology infrastructures have gradually converged with IT technology, which has in turn favoured a gradual cross-pollination between these sectors. This AV-IT-Broadcast triangle is best exemplified by the transition to IP-based media that has become a major feature at both AV and broadcast trade shows over recent years.
This trend has also favoured the adoption of concepts, principles and practices from the IT and software industry, including an increasing focus on intuitive user experiences, which has strengthened technology accessibility. Recently, the rise of low-code and no-code solutions in the software industry, which has influenced broadcast as well, has taken this concept of accessibility to an extreme.
Accessibility has also been favoured by IT technology lowering the cost of producing content, which has plummeted in the last few years thanks to the economies of scale provided by the IT sector. This has enabled smaller players and even individuals to produce higher-quality content at a fraction of the cost compared to just a few years ago.
This brings me back to cloud and AI, as lowering barriers to entry is one of the things they have in common. For example, while the cloud made post-production accessible to editors working from home, AI is making video creation more accessible to non-expert users. The consensus is that creativity is (fortunately) still needed, though the rules of the game are undoubtedly changing. AI is leading to even more technology democratization, making professional content production more accessible.
General-purpose technologies have also contributed to lowering the barriers that historically separated different sectors.
Think about B2B and B2C, which are not as separated as they used to be. For example, video cameras could be neatly separated between B2B and B2C use cases, though technology development has gradually blurred the lines between these two categories, making this separation less easy today. Moreover, consumer gadgets such as smartphones and drones have been increasingly used to shoot professional content and news coverage. Applications of products more fluidly move from one industry to another, influencing various areas such as marketing and communications.
Think also about interactive user experiences and social media platforms. Our increasing usage of social media platforms has contributed to making the definition of and demand for interactive experiences increasingly similar across different sectors. Broadcasters, universities and employers are all trying to interact with viewers, students and employees, respectively, in increasingly similar ways, even though differences remain across these sectors. The business objectives these companies are talking about are increasingly resembling each other, which has inevitably driven convergence between the technology tools they use (back to the point I made earlier).
Why visitors are more interested in Broadcast
The supply of technology becoming more accessible would not be enough to sustain convergence if demand was not there. However, a range of demand-side trends has gradually made broadcast technology more attractive to AV users looking to upgrade the quality of their systems.
As I said earlier, the pandemic was definitively an important catalyst for this. The rising investment in corporate video and communications caused by the move to remote and hybrid work environments led AV users to double down on broadcast technology to produce content of higher quality.
However, there is more to this. Arguably, the pandemic accentuated some trends that were already at play before its advent. The trajectory of ISE attendance explored reflects this, as attendance was growing even before the pandemic, with patterns resembling its post-pandemic growth (e.g., a similar percentage of first-time attendees).
Which trends were already at play? Streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon were already pushing the quality of streaming video even before the pandemic while making distribution more accessible. This radically influenced consumer expectations.
However, I would focus on social media video as the key trend. Social media has made video more ubiquitous than ever before. While YouTube pioneered this trend, social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok (and now even LinkedIn!) have followed, and are now heavily dependent on video. Money was the next thing to follow, with ad dollars shifting to social media platforms. This led corporate organizations to look at video with increasing interest.
This intricate web of trends has driven a proliferation of both video content and the number of platforms through which is distributed to us viewers. As a result, standing out in a crowded marketplace and increasing engagement with viewers have become more important to most, including non-media organizations. They are not just looking for functional solutions anymore. They want to create compelling stories about their brands. This is perhaps the main reason why they are looking for broadcast-quality technology.
More recently, the combination of drivers such as the creator economy and AI-driven content creation has pushed this trend to an extreme. More creators are sharing professionally produced videos with their followers while AI-driven content creation is flooding our social media timelines. Note that this trend goes well beyond video and applies to other sectors such as content marketing (see this as an example). Of course, this is further shifting consumer expectations, making differentiation through broadcast technology more attractive to AV users.
Finally, the impact of social media distribution has made video delivery more interactive, which is perhaps an improvement area for corporates and broadcasters alike.
What about broadcasters and AV technology?
Convergence is not a one-way street, and the visitor profile of the ISE audience shows that even a few broadcast professionals are starting to attend the show.
Conversations with broadcasters on this topic have highlighted that ISE is one of their “fringe shows,” events they attend to benchmark technologies and trends beyond their core industry. ISE is arguably not as important as consumer shows like CES or SXSW, but it may slowly gain traction due to the trends mentioned earlier (i.e., technology and business outcomes converging).
Broadcasters are keen on learning how non-media companies are using collaboration technologies as well as interacting with their customers and employees. For example, understanding how corporate organizations are using AI chatbots to interact with their customers in different industries can inspire broadcasters to explore new use cases in content personalization.
Broadcast and media businesses are also interested in monitoring technology developments that AV has in common with broadcast. Not just IP-based video but also other trends such as virtual production and collaboration systems. For example, if I am a broadcaster interested in IP-based video, I might want to check out what suppliers focused on IP are doing at ISE, as the penetration of a supplier’s products in the AV industry might be a proxy for their versatility. It is no coincidence that an IP standard like NDI has gained traction in broadcast as well.
After this long reflection on the main trends that are driving convergence between broadcast and pro-AV, let’s move to some practical guidance.
ISE visitor checklist
The checklist below is designed to help ISE visitors navigate the convergence between broadcast and professional AV technologies effectively:
Spot technology trends: Identify key technology trends that AV and broadcast have in common (e.g., IP networking, virtual production, AI, etc.), differentiating the trends that are media-specific and those that are general-purpose.
Understand use cases & business objectives: Identify overlapping use cases and business objectives. For example, interactivity and personalization are use cases and objectives in both broadcast and some AV sectors.
Rank your interest areas: Rank your interest areas (in both technologies and use cases) in order of strategic importance. If possible, identify the relationship between technologies and use cases as well.
Map your interest areas: Map your interest areas with suppliers, halls and activities (e.g., conference streams) at the show, identifying your show hotspots. Mark these against your own objectives (e.g., learning, networking, etc.).
Build & prioritize your agenda: Use the output from the two previous exercises to build an agenda and/or prioritize your most important areas of interest, if there are any conflicts in your plan.
Document your findings: Use the framework above to document your findings according to your interests. For example, report on the most promising use cases, their maturity as well as the suppliers and technologies enabling them.
Part 3: ISE 2025 Post-Show Analysis
The third part of my analysis focuses more on ISE 2025, the trends I noticed at the show, and their relevance.
Happy days for the Pro-AV sector
ISE 2025 was buzzing, confirming pre-event predictions. Traffic was high, people were positive, conversations were bullish, and budgets were (and are) supposedly on the rise. There was a genuine optimism about the show and the industry it represents.
Was this justified? Generally, I would say so. Pro-AV is a growing sector that, according to AVIXA’s projections, is set to add $98bn over the next five years, reaching $422bn. That is a CAGR of 5.4% and a total size that is a significant multiple of the Broadcast technology sector. In other words, this is a significantly larger industry that is growing more rapidly than Broadcast according to various analyst estimates. And attendance numbers also confirmed pre-show optimism, as mentioned earlier.
And it is not just about numbers, the key drivers behind the show’s growth are solid, as argued in earlier parts of this analysis. In a nutshell, technology, including Broadcast technology, is becoming more accessible while brands increasingly demand better tools to tell their stories. Happy days for the Pro-AV sector, but what about Broadcast technology?
The Pro-AV opportunity for Broadcast technology vendors
What’s not to like about this? Broadcast technology vendors are increasingly attracted by the market opportunity Pro-AV presents and this is even more compelling as budgets in Broadcast, their core sector, continue to be under pressure. Some vendors told me that ISE is becoming one of the most important shows on the calendar, with more marketing budget being dedicated to it as a result.
The increasing presence of Broadcast technology vendors at the show was even more evident this year. There were more of them, and more first-time exhibitors flocked to the show to seize the Pro-AV opportunity. There were also more suppliers exploring the show as visitors, without exhibiting. Although FOMO drove a few suppliers to come to ISE, I believe that the trends behind their arrival are solid. And it was not just vendors, I saw many more Broadcast-focused publishers, PR companies and consultants attending the show for the first time.
This is why I thought that ISE 2025 was a turning point. I remember telling people that the show was a must-attend due to the rise of convergence in 2022, and I remember many not fully understanding what I meant back then. I think that this prediction in 2022 was validated this year with ISE attracting such a significant portion of the Broadcast world.
However, as I argued earlier, this opportunity does not come without challenges as convergence is still a trend in flux. I gathered even more evidence in support of this argument at ISE 2025 with most Broadcast technology vendors reporting various challenges related to approaching the AV market.
Let’s have a look at the reasons behind these challenges and the potential adjustments that Broadcast technology vendors could make to improve their approach to the Pro-AV market.
The composite nature of the Pro-AV sector
Every time I go to ISE, I am reminded of the composite nature of the Pro-AV sector. I shared some thoughts on this in my analysis of the ISE visitor base, but I feel I need to complement these with some additional analysis here.
Not only this is a sector relying on an intricate web of integrators, distributors and resellers, but also it is made up of different sub-industries (e.g., education, corporate, broadcast, etc.) with different fundamentals, strategies, needs and priorities. This composite nature leads to complexity, which creates various challenges for exhibitors.
The obvious challenge that this complexity creates is tailoring messaging relevant to the different sectors attending ISE. This is one of the actions I recommended to Broadcast vendors in my checklist. Unfortunately, I saw many examples of Broadcast vendors not doing this, and repurposing messaging from Broadcast-focused shows such as NAB Show and IBC to ISE. These were often the quietest booths on the show floor. On a positive note, I also saw vendors that tailored messaging very well.
The other challenge that this complexity creates is identifying potential buyers of Broadcast technology products in such a diverse pool of industries. This means finding the decision-makers who are likely to be interested in buying your products and targeting them with the right marketing and messaging. Although this is a difficult endeavour, it is possible to use tools such as data-driven marketing in support of this objective.
Applications vs. technologies
The other relevant improvement area that Broadcast technology vendors could work on is focusing their messaging on applications and use cases rather than technologies and tools.
However, I noticed that many vendors were far too focused on showing off the sophistication and intricacies of their kit and software features rather than explaining how it could be applied (and why it should be applied) in different Pro-AV sectors.
And even in this case, I noticed examples of messaging repurposed from Broadcast. For example, I heard a vendor talking about how their solution could lower content distribution costs, but I didn’t hear anything about why a corporate organization should distribute content with their solution and the benefits it might bring.
In a nutshell, focus on why and how your offerings should be adopted by Pro-AV buyers rather than spending too much time on what they do.
Key trends at ISE 2025
As part of this analysis, I also wanted to share the key trends I noticed at the show. The observations below focus on a few macro trends rather than providing a roundup of products.
AI’s invisible hand
Unsurprisingly, the presence of AI at the show increased, consistent with other industry events and with the central presence this technology is taking in our personal and professional lives. However, I noticed that AI was not always very visible on booths as the technology was hidden by factors such as its integration into physical devices (see what LG displayed at their booth), application-focused marketing or perhaps fear of losing competitive advantage.
AI’s impact on the industry was perhaps more evident in connection with video and audio use cases or the macro applications ISE focuses on such as learning or collaboration.
Productive collaboration
Collaboration is always an important theme at the show, particularly in Hall 2, which is focused on technologies enabling effective meetings and collaboration, particularly in work settings (companies such as Zoom, MS Teams and Google Meet exhibit in this Hall).
When it comes to collaboration, the change I noticed this year was a greater focus on boosting productivity (e.g., making meetings more efficient using AI) than on enabling hybrid collaboration (e.g., using immersive technology to bring onsite and remote workers together), which had been a feature of the show in the immediate post-pandemic period.
Of course, companies heavily invested in AI that also provide major collaboration tools such as Microsoft and Google have an incentive to merge these two areas. However, I also wondered what this means for the future of work, which is a major driver for technology at this exhibition.
Hybrid work is maturing as the norm for most corporate organizations (even if some are retreating from their flexible work pledges), and the spotlight might be moving on making this more efficient. More generally, I think that productivity is becoming a more important priority in the age of Gen AI to gain competitive advantage, which might be the main driver behind this trend.
Broadcast and live
I thought that Hall 6 (focused on Lighting and Staging) was very busy and buzzing. This might reflect the shiny technology exhibited in this Hall, but I thought it was also a sign of the potential resurgence of live events, which is akin to what is happening in broadcast as well.
Sustainability and ROI
Sustainability and energy-efficient hardware remained an important trend at the show, consistent with the predictions that were made before the event.
I noticed that the debate around this is gradually moving onto sustainability which makes economic sense, and I think that we will see this at other trade shows this year due to the impact of macro trends.
Macro influences
I believe that the rising influence of macroeconomic and geopolitical developments (e.g., trade wars, conflicts, etc.) on the technology sector, which includes Pro-AV technology, is rising to prominence. While this could not be visible on the show floor, it was an important element of the conversations I had. Most recently, the new US administration has had an impact on a wide range of issues, including tariffs, ESG and flexible work pledges, expected M&A activity and AI legislation. This should not be overlooked.
Final words on the venue
Finally, a few words on the venue. Most exhibitors and attendees I talked to reported very positive feedback on the Fira. I think that the organization of technology in different "zones" dedicated to macro applications makes both the discovery of products and the identification of trends more convenient.
See you at ISE 2026!