5 key takeaways from NAB 2026
NAB 2026 was the year the satellite-to-IP conversation started getting serious. Not everyone is there yet, but the urgency is building. The broadcasters who showed up at our booth this year are trying to get ahead of it. Here's what we heard:
#1: The satellite transition is no longer theoretical
"Inertia has given way to action. Decisions are being made now about how content will move in the future."
— Malik Khan
With the Upper C-Band auction set for July 2027 and an FCC ruling expected as early as this fall, broadcasters arrived with real urgency. The Tennis Channel, MSG, and TelevisaUnivision have all made the move to IP, many reporting cost savings of 40% to 60% alongside gains in capacity and reach. The path is proven. It's just a matter of when.
#2: The economics of LTN's IP Media Gateway are hard to ignore
"You connect to the now nearly ubiquitous Internet, connect to your video network, and you're receiving channels. That's it."
— Rick Young
The LTN Gateway was one of the most talked-about products on our show floor this year. The questions we heard were practical ones: how fast can we deploy, what does it replace, what does it cost? A single unit handles 500 channels, providing the economical scale everyone is right concerned with today and new channels come online in hours with no additional hardware — all at a fraction of the cost of maintaining satellite infrastructure.
#3: Live sports demands infrastructure that won't let you down
"LTN was built as a purpose-built IP video network to eventually replace satellite."
— Malik Khan
Every sports-focused session at NAB was standing room only, which tells you everything about where the value is in the media right now. LTN's network runs at 99.9999% uptime with 15-plus years without downtime and six nines of availability within 200ms globally. With nearly every major venue now on the network, the workflow from acquisition to real-time versioning and customization for every audience or platform to delivery is faster and more reliable than satellite ever was.
#4: IP hands control back to rights holders
"IP gives broadcasters the ability to customize content for specific regions or OTT platforms… allowing stations and content creators of all types to swap sources or replace content not cleared for certain markets."
— Rick Young
Content rights are only as valuable as your ability to act on them. That came up a lot at NAB this year. Major League Volleyball is a good example. Working with LTN, they control their own ad inventory at match and set breaks, manage co-branded watermarks, and tailor graphic layouts to each platform while distributing simultaneously across YouTube, Roku, ION, Scripps Sports, and CBS.
#5: Local broadcasters are finding a new kind of flexibility
"What comes next is a logical evolution of how content is distributed and monetized."
— Malik Khan
Some of the best conversations at NAB were with local stations working out what IP makes possible, day to day. Take Fox affiliates. Through LTN's Watch monitoring portal, they can tap into six live breaking news channels, pull stories from sister stations, and monitor diagnostics in real time. A weather team can instantaneously request a specific local feed during a hurricane. A national reporter can go live at a specific local station. Flexibility that would have taken significantly more people and infrastructure to pull off just a few years ago.
Ready to explore what IP distribution looks like for you?
The 2027 auction is coming, and the decisions being made right now will shape broadcast distribution for years to come. Whether you're looking to break free from satellite, customize live events at scale, spin up new channels, or unlock more revenue, we're here to help you fulfill your wildest streams. Get in touch with our team.