The Linux Foundation, in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA), has announced the formation of the Media eXchange Layer Project (MXL)—an open source initiative aimed at enabling real-time, in-memory exchange of video, audio, and metadata within software-based media production environments.

“The Linux Foundation is committed to fostering open collaboration across industries,” said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation. “MXL brings together leaders in media and IT to develop open, interoperable solutions for the future of real-time media production.”

As broadcasters transition from traditional hardware setups to virtualized, containerized systems, MXL aims to reduce infrastructure complexity and promote interoperability across compute nodes, production clusters, and broadcast platforms. It will provide a reference implementation of the Media Exchange Layer defined in the EBU’s Dynamic Media Facility Reference Architecture.

Key goals of the MXL Project include:

• Interoperable software-based media production, allowing seamless integration of diverse tools and compute environments.
• Accelerated adoption of software-defined infrastructure, supporting workflows with high sensitivity to latency and quality.

The project is being developed in collaboration with major media organizations such as the BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, France TV, RTÉ, SVT, and Olympic Broadcasting Services. Technology providers like AWS, NVIDIA, Intel, Grass Valley, and Lawo are also supporting implementation efforts.

Industry leaders are encouraged to participate as end users or contributors. More information is available at tech.ebu.ch/dmf/mxl.