MUMBAI: Once upon a broadcast, it was enough to air a show and call it a day.

Not anymore.

As screens multiply and viewers scatter, broadcasters are strapping in for a digital arms race-armed with AI, automation, and the all-powerful cloud. At Indiantelevision.com’s Video and Broadband Summit 2025, the panel “The Smart Broadcast / OTT Revolution” unpacked this high-speed transformation, one data stream at a time.

Moderated by Amagi SVP (sales) - APAC Jay Ganesan, the discussion featured heavyweights from JioStar, Zee Entertainment, MX Player and Live Times, who shared how they’re reimagining production, distribution and monetisation in a world where content has to be everywhere, all at once.

JioStar executive director – BTO Paritosh Saha noted that their cloud-first workflow had been ahead of the curve. “Right from production, proxies, approvals to collaborative workflows—it was all built on cloud. And now AI has supercharged it,” he explained. Real-time highlight reels, AI-driven tagging, and cross-platform promotions are becoming the new norm. “The moment the match ends, the highlights are ready,” he said, adding that even commentators have AI-fed stats “right in front of them”.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd SVP - content tech Anil Tanwade spoke of the shift from traditional broadcasting to fragmented digital ecosystems. “Unless you make the whole ecosystem one, you can’t bring true efficiency,” he said. Tanwade championed hybrid models—using local systems for content creation and cloud for management and scaling. The key, he said, lies in syncing creativity with tech.

Amazon MX Player head of product & business analytics Shreyans Shrimali took the spotlight on AI’s role in localisation and marketing. From automatic dubbing and subtitles to AI-generated posters, trailers, and social promos, Shrimali laid out a future where algorithms cut down grunt work. “You can generate 100 tweets out of a single trailer”, he pointed out, underscoring how automation is powering faster audience engagement.

But it wasn’t just entertainment in the spotlight. Live Times founder Dilip Singh spoke from a news-first perspective. “India is a powerful emerging story. If you’re building media from India, it can’t just be local—it has to be global,” he said. Singh has built an infrastructure spanning satellite and IP-based delivery, employing AI for everything from content validation to fact-checking in an age of ‘WhatsApp University’. “80 per cent AI, 20 per cent human intelligence,” he said, describing his editorial formula for trust in an ocean of misinformation.

The discussion also touched on ad innovation. Customised ad breaks—350 versions of the same spot—are already being deployed. “It’s not just about making money, it’s about keeping the consumer engaged,” said the panellists. Embedded commerce, branded integrations and sponsorships are all being layered into the broadcast feed.

The conversation ended on a sober note. “Ten years ago, you earned $100 doing one thing. Now, you have to do 20 different things to earn the same $100,” the moderator quipped. Cloud and AI aren’t silver bullets—but they are proving to be jet fuel in an industry fighting for scale, speed and sustainability.