Originally recorded at 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas, USA
Rethinking broadcast infrastructure through the lens of cost, utilization, and operations
Cloud is no longer a theoretical concept for broadcasters — it’s a tool in the infrastructure toolkit. But what exactly is it good for? At the heart of this question lies ground and cloud channel origination economics — understanding where each approach delivers advantages, and how a hybrid model can maximise both cost-efficiency and resilience.
In this technical deep-dive, Imagine Communications’ John Mailhot and Gareth Wills walk through real-world broadcast workloads and explore the operational trade-offs, cost implications, and architectural considerations that separate hype from reality.
What you’ll learn
- How real-world broadcast workloads differ in utilization — and why that matters for cost
- When cloud is more cost-effective — and when on-prem is still the smart choice
- The tipping point of 30% utilization: a key threshold for ground and cloud channel origination economics
- Why hybrid architectures — powered by orchestration — often offer the best of both
- The hidden costs of cloud (and the hidden inefficiencies of on-prem)
- Why DR, regional splits, and special event channels are ideal use cases for cloud
- How to avoid stranded assets and design infrastructure that scales with demand
“Can this work? Is it technically feasible? I think that’s all been proven. People are running television in the cloud every day. Now the question is really about optimization.”
— Gareth Wills
