APEX TECH 2026: Full STREAM Ahead for APEX’s Content Licensing Initiatives
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During APEX TECH 2026, Thales InFlyt Experience Director of Marketing Operations Jon Norris donned his APEX hat as Director of APEX FlightTrack and APEX STREAM to provide an update on both new initiatives.
“APEX FlightTrack delivers the first complete, tail number-specific, globally auditable reporting structure for licensed inflight content usage, enabling accurate 2025 retro billing and verifiable reporting for 2026 onwards,” Norris explained to delegates.
“The initial feedback from the working groups has been positive and we’re now starting to build out the plan and schedule for both projects accordingly.”
“APEX FlightTrack complements APEX STREAM by giving studios accuracy and confidence in inflight content reporting. APEX can cross-reference actual aircraft operations with hardware capabilities and IFE content license requirements,” he continued. “This enables studios to retroactively validate 2025 usage, bill correctly within Q1/2026, and then begin a standardized, transparent, and fully auditable reporting cycle for 2026 onwards on a quarterly basis.”
APEX STREAM was first announced at the 2025 APEX IFSA Global EXPO in Long Beach during a panel session on the complexity of content rights in regards to streaming using in-flight connectivity. An abbreviation for Standardized Technical Rights Enforcement for Airline Media, APEX STREAM is a framework designed to gather perspectives from airlines, studios, content service providers (CSPs), and connectivity companies with a view to clarifying the licensing landscape and reducing uncertainty around in-flight streaming.
“During January, we held our initial working group meetings with Studios and Independent Distributors, CSPs and Labs, and IFE Systems companies supporting APEX FlightTrack and APEX STREAM. The initial feedback from the working groups has been positive and we’re now starting to build out the plan and schedule for both projects accordingly,” said Norris.
“APEX can cross-reference actual aircraft operations with hardware capabilities and IFE content license requirements.”
The first APEX FlightTrack reports are due to be created in February/March using the full global tail number and hardware database from CAPA, as well as the full historical flight movement database from OAG.
To generate the reports, APEX will cross-reference which aircraft flew (aircraft variant, tail number, total seats); on what route (flight number, origination and destination airports); when flight took place (departure date/time and arrival date/time); and which hardware each aircraft used (IFE manufacturer/model, IFC provider/service, and wIFE manufacturer/model).
The plan is that within each report, studios and independent distributors will receive a complete list of flights needing to be billed that separates onboard server-based content delivery and over the air delivery. They will also contain runtime threshold results, hardware capability verification and device and system mismatch flags.
“APEX FlightTrack complements APEX STREAM by giving studios accuracy and confidence in inflight content reporting.”
During initial meetings, working group members were asked for their runtime and/or licensing thresholds, rule sets, and reporting format requirements. Until the first report is published, Norris is keen to discuss reporting requirements with additional companies in the aim of building in the specific information studios need to determine whether they have been paid the appropriate rate by their airline customers.
Norris urged any interested parties to schedule a call with him to discuss the initiatives in more detail.
Moving forward, there will be an APEX STREAM Studios and Independent Distributors working group meeting at APEX Content Market in Dubai on February 10 from 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM.
To read out more about the keynote addresses and panel discussions at APEX TECH 2026, click here.