As we turn the corner and land firmly in 2026, it\u2019s both daunting and exciting to think about the future of tech in media and entertainment technology. I\u2019ll continue to learn something new and work with some piece of gear I\u2019ve never seen before this year, I can be guaranteed of that, while still supporting things that are aging, timing out, and often thought of as irrelevant, but that the businesses I\u2019m working for still utilize on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n This lookahead is not meant to be a pulse that somehow I\u2019ve tapped into across the industry. It\u2019s just a look from the ground floor, looking out, sampling some of the conversations those of us talking about this coming year are having.<\/span><\/p>\n We can\u2019t start 2026 without talking about AI. It\u2019s happening. It\u2019s talking to us in our browsers, on our phones, showing up as both helpful tools and annoying intrusions. We can\u2019t help but feel bombarded, especially as this past Christmas saw many of our colleagues and friends upload pictures of themselves superimposed with Santa hats in festive scenes, exploring the new free image tool on ChatGPT<\/strong><\/em> that won\u2019t be free forever to alter images. I\u2019m sure video is next.<\/span><\/p>\n One thing that is happening around my house, filled with teenagers and 21-year-olds who are the next generation being marketed to, is the joke of showing each other bad AI. It\u2019s really amazing what it\u2019s created, but they\u2019re already tuned into AI used too much and too often, which gives a sense of creepiness to the content showing up in their feeds on social media and in advertising. These kids are tech savvy. While my dad, born in the baby boomer era, may not be able to tell if a video is fake, they have a keen eye for things that look a little too shiny, too implausible, and sound too robotic.<\/span><\/p>\n So if I were a media and entertainment company utilizing an AI tool to actually create content this year, I\u2019d go slow and be careful not to sully my brand with too much of a feel of something that isn\u2019t made by and for humans. While lots of these tools will get better and start cutting commercials into programming at the right time, or adjusting audio to give a seamless experience, too much still feels clunky and insincere, too shiny, bordering on obnoxious. For the young people in my house, if you\u2019re trying to sell to them, that turns them right off a brand and actually makes it a bit of a laughingstock, much like that robot spraying sanitizer around our hotel.<\/span><\/p>\n Last year was the year of tariffs and trade wars. This year seems to be one of further economic unrest, which can make everyone tighten up at the beginning of the year, especially in the first quarter. But as the year goes on, projects still need to happen, initiatives have to roll out, and technology needs replacing and maintaining. If you waited through last year avoiding spending money, I don\u2019t think personally that a failing camera system, a broken audio console, or a repeatedly shutting down server is going to wait much longer. The prices aren\u2019t going to get cheaper either.<\/span><\/p>\n When I first started my career, I remember buying broadcast equipment, switchers, camera systems, and audio consoles, and the accounting department would show us how these capital purchases was were written off over 15 years. I feel like it\u2019s time to bring those timelines back. Ten years can go by in a blink of an eye with technology. If you don\u2019t have a plan for your computer systems, switches, consoles, screens broadcast cores and when you\u2019ll start budgeting to replace them, you\u2019ll end up in a situation where everything feels like it\u2019s failing at once.<\/span><\/p>\n We can look to IT for understanding here. A lot of the gear they maintain and service has a shorter lifespan than things like an ENG broadcast camera used in sports or an audio console in a radio station. If we are using more off the shelf gear, parts from Amazon<\/strong><\/em>, virtual machines, and computer hardware, what used to be 20 years between installs has turned into 10. Ten years of 24\/7 operation, always on, working hard to produce video or audio, is really all you can ask of a computerized system.<\/span><\/p>\n 2026 is also another big year for reshuffling who owns what, who is broadcasting where, and who bought whom. What content you can get on which platform continues to change. Who Warner Bros.<\/strong> <\/em>is owned by now, what sports are being broadcast where and how you\u2019re going to watch them all. You have just a couple of weeks to figure out how you\u2019re going to watch all the Olympic coverage you want, download the apps, make sure you have a smart TV, and get everything ready for that viewing party when minus 20 sweeps across the prairies and you can\u2019t bring yourself to go outside again.<\/span><\/p>\n It turns out when people talk about stuff they like to each other, it helps get the word out, especially at a time when marketing feels like a fragmented mess of platforms, social media, and traditional advertising. So get ready for the year of event TV, watching with friends on the same day, tapping into ideas from days gone by that actually worked and made a lot of money. Netflix\u2019s<\/strong><\/em> Stranger Things<\/em> succeeded, in part, because it tapped into multi-generational viewing. While algorithms and AI tell you to make content for one group, it turns out that if you make it accessible to multiple generations, you get more eyeballs.<\/span><\/p>\n As a technician who is still called upon to fix, repair, think through ideas, and explain what is and isn\u2019t possible to people making decisions about replacing or installing new technology, I\u2019m a little biased when I say that 2026 is the time not just to think about succession plans, but to start acting on them.<\/span><\/p>\n There are kids on the ground floor with education, computer knowledge, and a willingness to get a job and get out of their parents\u2019 basements who would take any opportunity to break into our industry. If you do one thing this year, try and create a part-time junior technical position and have them follow your senior people. You actually don\u2019t have time left. In two and a half years, the time it takes to train someone to be on their own for a week while someone is on vacation, or to throw them into an environment where they can solve a real problem, will be gone.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m sorry if you\u2019ve waited for me to say this in Broadcast Dialogue<\/strong><\/em>, but you\u2019re nearly too late. This is a not a warning anymore it is a fact.<\/span><\/p>\n I get asked every week if I know anyone with skills. Over the last year, I met a handful of up-and-coming kids who all needed a break in position. They would take a full-time junior role at $20-$30 an hour just to learn, and they\u2019re happy, friendly, and eager. They might think they know it all, and that\u2019s okay. I did too at the start of my career, and I had to fall on my face a hundred times to learn that I didn\u2019t. They need this opportunity, and we need them. They\u2019re smarter, quicker, and faster than I ever was.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re a new business in media and entertainment technology and feel frustrated because you need an experienced voice to understand your business, talk to a vendor, supplier, or advocate who can work with you part-time. There are experienced mid-to-late career professionals looking for flexibility, autonomy, or a gradual step back. Some, like myself, want variety and to keep fingers in a few different pots to keep learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Advertise part-time broadcast engineering jobs or part-time, term or contract operational rolls to start connecting with people in this country working in the media and entertainment industry with years of experience, and you\u2019ll see some of the most experienced people come out of the woodwork to help on projects or contract work. Some consistency helps. Everyone still needs income to live. Negotiate. You may find having an expert on your team saves you money in the long run.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/owen-beard-K21Dn4OVxNw-unsplash-225x300.jpg\")
I don\u2019t have much experience with actual robots, except for the time I was in Beijing during the Winter Olympics, locked up with a bunch of robots that brought food to your table, or the one in the hotel that sprayed sanitizer with a big smile on its face as it followed you onto the elevator. Here is what I do know about robots. If we put a smile on them, give them a static even cartoon face, and they do a job, after seeing them for a month people\u2019s reactions turn negative, much like the apocalyptic war movies where robots and people don\u2019t get along. We like the idea of robots doing things for us, but then something happens after seeing their smug never changing smile and they kind of make you angry.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/qtq80-j7jsTr-300x202.jpeg\")
This is also why, if your staff are content creators, 2026 is the year you need to start learning about CP2A and content credentialing. If you\u2019re making video, audio, photography, or written content, you need to think about how you\u2019ll be able to tell people that what they\u2019re seeing was created by you and not generated by AI. Content credentialing isn\u2019t about stopping AI, that ship has sailed. It\u2019s about establishing trust. It\u2019s about being able to say this was shot by our team, edited by our staff, recorded in our studio, or created by a human who works here with humans having editorial oversight. As audiences become more skeptical of what they see online, having a way to prove authenticity may become as important as a watermark or a logo ever was. If you wait until advertisers, platforms, or regulators start asking for it, you\u2019ll already be behind.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/transmitter-300x225.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
If you\u2019re in radio or television and you\u2019re in transmission and you\u2019ve been avoiding a large purchase like a new FM transmitter, you already know the prices aren\u2019t going down and delivery timelines aren\u2019t getting shorter. If you wait until you\u2019re in a critical situation in 2026, you\u2019re going to be waiting in line.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/co-viewing-300x225.jpg\")
When you spend a lifetime working with old guys, they often tell you things come back around. When you\u2019re a kid you don\u2019t believe it, but a trend this year that I never thought I\u2019d see return, based on everyone saying linear TV was dead, is scheduled television episode releases. Now branded as event television or appointment viewing, studios are holding back instead of releasing entire series at once, giving viewers time to watch, building branding and marketing around it, and allowing for water cooler conversations. No surprise there, humans talking to other humans still drives eyeballs and ears to content.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/videostreaming-300x225.jpg\")
2026 is also the year where borders have fewer boundaries for content. Easy VPNs, new players entering the streaming marketplace, TV apps, and global access to content make watching material from around the world more possible than ever. That\u2019s why, if you\u2019re a creator in Canada, just keep making. If you\u2019re a government official or supporter of this industry and want to see us continue on the center stage, make sure it\u2019s possible for creators here to keep their voices, tell unique stories, and keep shooting our landscapes. <\/span>Canada has always been an outward looking place, and in 2026 we\u2019re reminded how lucky we are to live here.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/broadcast-tech-300x225.png\")
If you don\u2019t start now, there is no hope of finding a replacement. There are not more technical people entering media and entertainment technology, and we are about to see the largest mass exodus ever. Count how many people on your crew are over 50 and ask yourself how long they are really sticking around. Do you truly have another 10 years, and do you think you can remain competitive with one person who already has a foot out the door thinking about retirement, while AI, new platforms, and new technology accelerate?<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/btech-300x225.png\")
Keep your senior technicians focused on strategy and understanding your business. Tell them they might get a vacation where they don\u2019t have to check email, or a weekend off once in a while, and you\u2019ll see how motivated they are to train someone new, especially if they\u2019re part of the hiring process. Those of us on the ground floor in tech can sniff out someone who wants to turn a screwdriver, who has some gumption, maybe learned on a farm or in a workshop, and who wants to solve problems rather than create them.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/broadcastdialogue.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Tessa-Potter-Paris-2024-300x225.png\")