Inside 5G-EMERGE's New Input to MPEG: A Blueprint for Hybrid Satellite Delivery

Based on: Y. Reznik (Streaming Labs), B. Tullemans (EBU), K. Brown (HNR), "Toward next-generation media delivery over hybrid satellite, mobile, and broadband networks," input to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 3 (MPEG Systems), m77893, Geneva, July 2026.

The industry often treats delivery choice as a philosophical debate: should we deliver over OTT or satellite? A recent paper out of the 5G-EMERGE project turned that debate into an engineering answer, working out the economics of splitting live channels between broadcast and CDN.

This new paper, co-authored by Yuriy Reznik (Streaming Labs), Bram Tullemans (EBU), and our own CTO, Kris Brown, alongside the wider 5G-EMERGE consortium, takes the discussion further. It's a formal contribution to MPEG, the standards body that governs how streaming works. The argument is direct: here is what needs to change, so hybrid delivery stops being a special project and becomes part of normal infrastructure.

Why this matters to your technology stack

Right now, satellite, 5G, and broadband mostly run in their own lanes. Streaming platforms are built around HLS, DASH, and CDNs. Satellite and broadcast systems carry their own transport standards and their own operational habits. The two worlds rarely meet without a rebuild.

The 5G-EMERGE consortium (34 organisations across eight European countries, HNR included) has spent the past few years proving those lanes can merge. No stack rebuild required: a rebuild is exactly what most CTOs cannot budget for.

The core idea: don't replace, recombine

Here is the thesis in one line. Your players keep seeing ordinary HLS, DASH, or CMAF. Your operators keep their existing CDNs, DRM, and playback platforms. What changes sits out of sight underneath.

Satellite and multicast become an additional delivery path that slots into the workflow you already run, rather than a separate system with its own formats and rules. The app never knows the difference. That is deliberate. If hybrid delivery demands new client behaviour, adoption stalls before it starts.

Where each type of content fits

Not all content behaves the same way over a broadcast path, and the paper is precise about the split.

• Live and scheduled content is the clearest fit. DVB-MABR, the standard for adaptive streaming over multicast, is genuinely good at getting the same content to many places at once. When everyone wants the same stream at the same moment, a broadcast path is the efficient choice.
• VOD is trickier. Catalogues are long-tail by nature, and requests arrive asynchronously, so they never line up the way a live audience does. To handle that, 5G-EMERGE pairs the satellite path with an HTTP cache at the far edge. The cache soaks up everything that doesn't behave like a broadcast, keeping the on-demand experience responsive.

When the edge can't answer the manifest

Far-edge caches introduce two problems worth naming plainly.

• First, they often can't see the manifest. A cache that only receives content, with no view of the playlist describing it, can't make sensible decisions on its own. So, the metadata must travel with the content itself, packaged at the object level, rather than living in a manifest the cache never receives.
• Second, some edges have no reliable return link at all. Think maritime vessels, aircraft, or disaster-recovery sites. These aren't corner cases to be patched over later, but real operating conditions that need clearly defined modes of their own, so a caching node knows exactly how to behave when connection is lost.

What we suggest MPEG standardise

The recommendations to the working group are specific, not aspirational:

1. Richer object-level metadata, so caches can act sensibly without seeing a full manifest.
2. Standard interfaces for pushing content into broadcast paths on demand.
3. Clear operational rules for edges with patchy or absent return connectivity.
4. Broadcast-aware transport from day one. The teams building QUIC and Media over QUIC should design in support for broadcast sub-networks now, while the specifications are still open, instead of retrofitting it once the standard has set. Retrofitting is always more expensive, and rarely as clean.

Taken together, these turn hybrid delivery from a bespoke integration into something you can plan, budget, and scale like any other part of your infrastructure.

The bottom line

Satellite, 5G, and broadband no longer must compete for your delivery strategy. Recombined properly, they extend your reach without forcing you to abandon the platforms your team already knows. Live content rides multicast, VOD leans on a far-edge cache, and the harder edges finally get rules that fit them.

If you work anywhere near streaming infrastructure, satellite delivery, or media standards, the full paper, HERE, is worth your time. Contact us for a detailed discussion.

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