Austrian public broadcaster ORF is migrating its nationwide contribution network from SDI to IP using Net Insight's Nimbra platform. The project, managed by Big Blue Marble and TV-Connect, utilizes ST 2110 and NMOS standards to connect regional production studios across nine federal states.
This transition marks a significant commitment to IP-based media transport for a national public broadcaster, moving away from rigid SDI hardware toward software-defined agility. By adopting ST 2110 and NMOS, ORF is establishing a scalable foundation that allows for more flexible resource sharing between regional production sites. Within the broader streaming ecosystem, this move reflects the ongoing industry-wide push to broadcasters adopt ST-2110 and REMI for the contribution side of the value chain to support higher-resolution formats and more efficient remote production. Watch for whether other European public broadcasters follow this blueprint to consolidate regional production workflows into unified IP fabrics.
Net Insight has been steadily expanding its Nimbra platform footprint across European broadcasters and contribution networks. In early 2025, Net Insight announced that its Nimbra platform had been selected by Swedish public broadcaster SVT for a nationwide IP contribution upgrade, connecting production facilities in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö using ST 2110 transport. That deployment followed a similar pattern to ORF's project: replacing legacy SDI links with a standards-based IP fabric to enable flexible resource sharing across geographically distributed studios. Net Insight has also secured contracts with multiple Nordic and Central European broadcasters for Nimbra-based contribution networks since 2024, positioning the company as a leading vendor in the mid-market IP contribution space alongside competitors like MediaKind and Evertz.
The business case for IP contribution is being reinforced by standards bodies and industry groups pushing ST 2110 adoption. The Video Services Forum published updated interoperability guidelines in late 2025 that recommend NMOS-based device discovery and control as a baseline requirement for new contribution deployments, reducing vendor lock-in and simplifying multi-vendor integration. Meanwhile, the European Broadcasting Union has documented cost savings of 30 to 40 percent for broadcasters migrating contribution links from dedicated SDI circuits to shared IP infrastructure, citing reduced fiber lease expenses and the ability to multiplex multiple services over single wavelengths. These economics are particularly compelling for public broadcasters like ORF that operate under fixed budget mandates and must justify capital expenditure to government oversight bodies.
On the technical side, independent testing has validated Nimbra's performance characteristics for broadcast-grade contribution. In a 2025 evaluation, the EBU's technical team tested Net Insight Nimbra 1000 platforms for ST 2110 transport over 100G links and confirmed sub-millisecond latency with zero packet loss over a 72-hour soak test, meeting the strict timing requirements for live production switching. The evaluation also noted that reduced provisioning time for new contribution paths from hours to minutes compared to manual SDI patching. Adjacent deployments in the same category include using a combination of Nimbra and MediaKind platforms across its UK regional network, which serves as a reference architecture for other European public broadcasters considering similar transitions.
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