Backlight Report Highlights Surge In Media Storage And AI Use

Backlight has released its 2026 Iconik Media Stats Report, revealing how growing content volumes, rising storage demands and increased use of artificial intelligence are reshaping media workflows across the industry.

The company, which develops the Iconik and Wildmoka platforms used by major media and entertainment organisations, said the report highlights mounting pressure on traditional production tools and storage infrastructure as content output continues to accelerate.

According to the findings, video content remains the largest driver of storage demand. While video files represent just 14% of total media assets, they account for 64% of storage usage. The report also found that audio assets grew by 45% year-on-year, reflecting rising demand for podcasts, voice-overs, music libraries and multilingual audio tracks.

Changes in publishing formats are also reshaping production workflows. Vertical publishing increased by 120% during the period analysed. Although traditional 16:9 landscape formats still account for more than 90% of published clips, the report indicates that vertical formats are steadily gaining ground.

The study also highlighted the expanding role of artificial intelligence in media management. In 2025, AI tools across Backlight’s product suite were used more than 11.4 million times to automate tasks and transform raw media into searchable assets. According to the company, AI is increasingly being used to improve operational efficiency while supporting creative teams rather than replacing them.

"When it comes to having AI in media asset management, technology has to go beyond just having search capabilities for videos, but rather create a deep understanding of the content you have," said Kathleen Barrett, CEO of Backlight. "The ability to find and quickly collaborate on millions of assets instantaneously, despite precise demands and parameters, opens the door for more time and opportunities to find inspiration, create new types of storytelling, and innovate on assets."

The report draws on data from Iconik's internal database, which now tracks more than 903 million assets across its user base. Since the report was first introduced, Backlight says asset counts have increased by 9,306%, rising from 9.6 million to 903 million items. Over the same period, total storage has grown by 6,943%, expanding from 4.6 petabytes to 324 petabytes.

Duration data also shows rapid expansion, with video duration increasing by 4,636% and audio duration growing by 8,122%.

In addition to storage and asset trends, the report includes insights into industry data usage, the number of processing jobs by task type, collaboration patterns among Iconik users and the flow of media data between on-premises systems and cloud storage.

The 2026 edition marks the sixth year that Backlight has published the report, which the company says is designed to provide insight into evolving media management practices, the growing role of AI and broader industry trends.

www.iconik.io/media-stats-report-2026

backlight.co