IBC has unveiled 9 projects for its 2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, bringing together broadcasters, streamers, live event specialists and technology companies to explore new approaches to content creation, distribution and audience engagement.
The projects were selected following the 2026 Accelerator Kickstart Day at BBC Broadcasting House in London and will now move into a six-month development phase ahead of proof-of-concept demonstrations at IBC2026, which takes place in Amsterdam from 11-14 September.
Participants in this year’s programme include BBC, NBCUniversal, DAZN, ITV, Channel 4, Associated Press, Sky and Al Jazeera, alongside a range of technology and research partners.
Mark Smith, lead of the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, said the initiative continued to provide a collaborative environment for tackling complex industry challenges and turning ideas into practical solutions.
IBC said the 2026 projects span AI-led production, immersive live experiences, next-generation streaming, accessibility and secure live media delivery.
Among the selected projects is Network Control: Your Connection, Your Choice, backed by GSMA Fusion, BBC, EBU, France Télévisions, RAI and the University of Strathclyde, which will look at using open 5G network APIs to prioritise broadcast devices in congested environments.
FRAMES, proposed by RAI, EBU and MovieLabs with ITV among the co-champions, will focus on linking broadcaster archives, creative teams and AI agents to accelerate pre-production through content discovery and multimodal collaboration.
DAZN is leading Delta Protocol: Live Media Reinvented, a project intended to move live streaming away from frame-based delivery towards a semantic model designed to support more personalised and adaptive experiences.
Other projects include Crystal Clear, led by Channel 4 and BBC, which aims to improve speech intelligibility in audiovisual content; Q-Stream, which is examining trusted live broadcasting in severely constrained network environments; and VooPla, a Digital Catapult-backed initiative using digital twins to assess feasibility, cost and sustainability in broadcast and virtual production.
The line-up also includes From Broadcast to Me-Cast, an AI-driven sports engagement project from Astro Malaysia and MBC; IFeL: Immersive Festival Live, which is exploring remote presence for live music events; and SMART STORIES: The Agentic Production Ecosystem, an IBC Incubator project involving Associated Press, NBCUniversal, ITN, BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, Sky and ITV.
IBC also announced EIT Culture & Creativity as innovation partner for 2026, while AMD-HP and Shure have joined as associate sponsors.
Sandeep Tiku, CTO at DAZN, said the Accelerator Programme was becoming a point of connection between hardware, software and technology experts working to redefine streaming. NBCUniversal vice president of innovation Alex Bassett said the incubator work on news workflows was aimed at producing something close to a minimum viable product rather than a simple proof of concept.
