SOM story object model
The Story Object Model
When the story changes,
do your systems know?
AI is moving into every part of live production. It can speed up the gallery and push the same story to web, social, OTT and mobile at the same time.
But each tool still sees only its own slice of the story. None of them shares the same picture.
SOM is the open standard being built to close that gap: a common context layer that helps systems stay aligned as stories change.
Cuez has helped build this through the IBC Accelerator 2026 Smart Stories project, alongside broadcasters, news organisations, vendors and technology partners. Schema definition is live now.
The moment we are in
The tools are ready.
The context is missing.
AI can help with graphics, rundowns, archiving, publishing and planning. It speeds up the gallery and pushes the same story to more platforms at once.
That part is moving fast. The gap is shared context.
A graphics tool may not know the producer changed the angle. A compliance tool may not know the item moved from package to live hit. An archive assistant may surface a clip that editorial already rejected. A publishing tool may act on rights that no longer apply.
Each tool can look smart, but together they can still work in the dark.
the real risk
Individually intelligent. Collectively blind.
naming the constrain
The constraint is not integration. It is context.
APIs are everywhere. Vendors know how to connect systems, and broadcasters already run complex production stacks. But a connected system can still miss the point.
That meaning still lives with people: the producer who knows the story angle changed, the director who knows what moved in the running order, the editor who knows which line was rejected, and the compliance lead who knows what can go to air.
People still carry most of that context. SOM is being built so the systems can share more of it too. Start with the story itself.
what a story carries
Think of the story as a backpack.
A modern story does not just go to air. It goes to the rundown, the website, social, OTT, and mobile push. Every output needs the same picture of what the story is. A story carries more than text, it carries:
- A script
- A premise
- A status
- A deadline
- A rights note
- A compliance flag
- A clip, graphic, warning or decision
That bundle is the backpack. SOM defines its shape: what compartments it has, what each one is called, and what can go inside. The shared context is structured, machine-readable and built to be updated.
When the story changes, the backpack changes with it.
SOM IS NOT
- A platform you log in to
- A product that replaces your tools
- A new database to maintain
- A brain that makes your editorial calls
SOM IS
- A shared context model every system can read
- A structured definition of story context
- A real-time way to share that context
- Open, published, governed by the industry
SOM is talkback for systems.
A story does not sit still. The premise can change. A clip arrives. A line gets cut. A compliance flag opens.
The backpack shows what travels with a story. Talkback shows how everyone stays in sync as the contents change.
In a live gallery, everyone on talkback hears the same call at the same time. The director, the cameras, sound, autocue, graphics. Nobody has to chase anyone. The shared channel keeps the show together.
SOM does the same for connected systems. When the story changes, one update goes out on the bus. Every subscribed system hears it at the same moment. Each one decides what to do with it.
A system joining the bus mid-show works the same way a producer joining the gallery halfway through does. They sit down, look at the monitor, and get the picture. From then on, talkback keeps them current.
Systems do the same: they read the current story to catch up, then listen for changes.
For the engineers
The bus does not move the whole newsroom around.
- It moves the signals that matter: what changed, what state the story is in, where the source material lives, and which systems may need to react.
- Small context can travel in the message itself: status, priority, premise, rights, compliance flags, approvals and warnings.
- Heavy content usually travels as a reference. A script update can point to the current script version. A clip update can point to an asset ID. A transcript update can point back to the source system.
- The bus can carry deltas too, when that level of detail matters. For example: line 182 removed, paragraph replaced, compliance note added. But that is a workflow choice, not the whole point of SOM.
- SOM keeps the shared story context current. The bus gets those updates to every subscribed system. Each tool keeps its own local view and acts from the same state.
where mos fits
MOS carried data between devices.
SOM helps them share meaning.
The industry has been here before. In the late 1990s, the newsroom was full of digital tools: word processors, graphics systems, autocue and rundowns. Each one was useful, but each one was separate.
MOS helped connect them. It did not replace the tools. It gave them a way to exchange data. That changed the digital newsroom.
The problem has moved. Systems can pass data. AI tools need context.
SOM does not make editorial calls, replace your tools or contain the intelligence. It gives every tool the same story context.
Each system reads that context, then uses its own knowledge to act. A graphics system knows what to do with a map. A compliance tool knows what to do with a flag. A MAM knows what to do with a clip. A rundown tool knows what to do with a live item.
The structure is shared, but the judgement stays local. That is why SOM can support many broadcasters and many vendors without forcing them to work the same way.
Same story. Same state. Different tools.
SOM gives everyone the same view of the story. It does not tell every system what to do, but it makes sure each tool acts from the same context. Your tool still brings its own intelligence, rules and workflow.
in plain english
skills
Skills tell agents how to behave.
SOM gives agents the shared context. Skills tell them how to act inside a real production environment.
A Skill can describe editorial rules, compliance thresholds, show formats, archive preferences or vendor behaviour. SOM defines what belongs in the shared story context. Skills define what each organisation or tool does with it.
That boundary matters. Put too much into SOM and the standard becomes rigid. Put too little in, and it becomes too thin to help.
The goal is not to capture everything. The goal is to capture the right things.
Your intelligence, your control
Humans stay in the loop.
Agentic production does not mean removing people from the call. It means giving people and tools the same picture before the call is made.
An AI output can go to a holding area first. An editor or producer can approve it, reject it or escalate it. Once approved, it can move to the production stream, and every step can be recorded.
- What did the agent see?
- What did it suggest?
- Which Skill governed it?
- Who approved it?
- What reached air?
where cuez stands
Bring your own AI. Keep control.
Framework stays open. Broadcasters stay in the loop. Bring your own model to a shared context layer, and the editorial calls stay where they belong.
Three ways to plug in
Designed for the whole ecosystem.
Autonomous vendor agent
Your agent acts within the SOM ecosystem and uses shared context as its operating framework. Full autonomous operation with the production picture it needs.
3
Context-aware exchange
Bidirectional context exchange, with behaviour that adapts as the story changes. The AI inside your product is amplified by the broader picture.
2
Subscribe and publish
Your system receives real-time story context and contributes its status back. No AI required. No major development lift. Immediate interoperability.
1
why it matters
One standard. Every party gains.
The industry
An open standard prevents fragmentation. Without it, every broadcaster builds a private context layer and every vendor wires point to point.
Vendors
Your AI works better when it understands the bigger picture. SOM gives products a common way to understand the story, with less bespoke wiring.
Broadcasters
Existing tools get smarter without replacement. AI investments work across systems instead of staying siloed. Editorial staff spend their expertise on editorial calls, not on keeping machines informed.
Built the right way
Written from production reality
SOM is being developed through the IBC Accelerator 2026 Smart Stories project. The work brings together broadcasters, news organisations, vendors and technology partners.
This is not the first Accelerator. Cuez has helped lead every step since 2023, working alongside broadcaster champions:
IBC2025 · AI Agent Assistants for Live Production.
Orchestrating specialist agents together, live on stage. Accelerator Project of the Year.
IBC2024 · Evolution of the Control Room
Bringing voice, AI and XR into the gallery. Named Accelerator Project of the Year.
IBC2023 · Gallery Agnostic Live Broadcasting
Proving the rundown could control any device, on-prem or cloud, through open APIs.
IBC2026 · Smart Stories · LIVE Demo at IBC2026
The primary goal is to tackle that challenge and give AI agents a shared understanding of what a story is, what's happening, and what matters.
Champions
Participants
MOS made the newsroom digital.
SOM enables agentic production.
Schema definition is live. If you want to be part of it, now is the moment.