IBC 2025 Recap: AI, Efficiency, and What’s Next for OTT
September is always a big month in our calendar as the team heads to Amsterdam for IBC. This year, the show was buzzing with conversations that will define the future of streaming. Across panels, meetings, and chance encounters in the halls, two themes stood out above the rest: AI and efficiency.
On AI, the tone had shifted – less hype, more substance. Real-world use cases are starting to make a difference in content discovery, personalisation, and operational workflows. As our CEO, Matthew Wilkinson, explained, “Agentic coding lets us move from months to days for major features. There’s always a human in the loop, but the product life cycle accelerates dramatically.”
Efficiency was the other major focus, with operators looking to do more with less while maintaining a great viewer experience. It’s also an area we’ve been focusing on at Magine Pro. As Matthew noted, “We’ve completely re-engineered the console to give operators more context across their service, helping them move faster, make better decisions, and introduce more automation.”
At Magine Pro, we see these themes play out every day with the streaming services we support. Whether it’s helping niche brands scale globally or enabling established operators to launch new offerings quickly, the message is clear: efficiency is no longer optional; it’s essential.
Here are some of the highlights and takeaways from IBC 2025.
From the Stand to the Riverside
Our stand at IBC was buzzing with activity from start to finish. We hosted both scheduled and walk-in meetings, showcasing demos of our platform across multiple devices and walking visitors through our powerful CMS console. Conversations were wide-ranging, from launch strategies and monetisation models to how operators can deliver better experiences, faster, and at scale.
But IBC is always about more than what happens on the show floor. This year, we were proud to co-host an evening by the riverside at Rijnbar, celebrating innovation and collaboration with our partners Marketlyft, Lighthouse Growth, Stockholm Stream, and Bunny.net. It was a fantastic opportunity to step away from the bustle of the RAI, reconnect with familiar faces, and spark new ideas for the year ahead.
Sharing Industry Insights at IBC
Meanwhile, our CEO, Matthew Wilkinson, contributed to industry thought leadership in two key ways. His article, “Context is King”, was published in the IABM Journal, which you can now read online on page 104. He also joined an IBC panel with XRoadMedia and ADB SA on “Combatting churn through smarter engagement and personalisation,” where the discussion focused on practical ways streaming services can retain and re-engage subscribers.
The session explored how shifting viewing habits, subscription fatigue, and the rise of direct-to-consumer models are reshaping retention strategies. As Matthew explained, many services are now looking beyond short-term promotions to create lasting value: “Post-COVID we see subscription fatigue. The best thing to prevent churn in a subscription service is to get people to lock in and take a yearly subscription. When you have big shows and big releases, run campaigns around your content bundling and offering.”
The panel agreed that while content is still the biggest driver of loyalty, how it’s packaged, released, and promoted ultimately determines whether viewers stay engaged or switch away. You can watch the full discussion below.
IBC is only the start of the conversation. Next up, we’ll be in Cannes for MIPCOM, meeting content owners and operators to explore how we can help distribute exclusive content, launch branded streaming services, and grow audiences worldwide. If you didn’t catch us in Amsterdam, we’d love to see you in Cannes. Book a meeting here.
