Magna Systems to showcase hybrid SDI-to-IP broadcast workflows at ABE 2026

The transition from SDI to IP remains a primary technical hurdle for regional broadcasters balancing legacy reliability with modern scalability requirements. By consolidating multiple vendors into a single live signal path, Magna is addressing the operational fragility often found in multi-vendor IP environments. This integration is critical as the industry shifts toward remote production and hybrid infrastructures where software-defined monitoring must replace dedicated hardware. For the A/NZ market, this provides a blueprint for migrating infrastructure without proprietary lock-in. Watch for specific performance metrics on sub-frame latency during the live sports production demos, which serve as a benchmark for real-time IP viability.

The emphasis on interoperability at ABE 2026 reflects a broader industry urgency to manage the complexity of hybrid broadcast environments. According to Haivision’s 2026 Broadcast Transformation Report, while 82% of broadcast professionals still leverage SDI, 39% now cite the transition to IP as their top technical priority. However, the move is often hampered by a global shortage in IT networking talent specifically trained for high-bandwidth media protocols. Per Technology Decisions (January 2026), Australian and New Zealand organizations are on the front lines of this skills gap, leading to increased demand for more intuitive configuration tools like the Arkona Blade Planner, which abstracts low-level parameters into a graphical interface.

Simultaneously, the monitoring landscape is shifting from simple alarms to deep data observability to support distributed teams. Per TAG Video Systems (February 2026), modern broadcast operations now manage thousands of parameters across hybrid paths. Tools like the newly released 'Lens' visualization interface are designed to reduce the mean time to repair (MTTR) by organizing video streams into hierarchical groups—such as by data center or content type—allowing engineers to pinpoint systemic failures in seconds. This shift is vital as New Zealand’s TV industry, in particular, has seen significant contraction, with revenue falling 8.7% in the current year according to IBISWorld (July 2026), necessitating deeper operational efficiencies and cost cuts through automated, software-native workflows.