After working together for two years, the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and the audio-focused Media Networking Alliance (MNA) are merging under the AIMS banner, AIMS said today. The move unites advocates for industry standards for transmitting video, audio and metadata over IP infrastructure.

Approved yesterday in a vote by members of both organizations, the merger creates a joint organization retaining the AIMS name, AIMS said. Among the advantages will be improved coordination between the broadcast and pro audio segments of the overall media business. That should mean fewer variants of emerging IP standards for equipment vendors to cope with.

To date, the MNA had been primarily focused on AES67,  an open standard for audio over IP and ethernet that is part of both organizations’ roadmaps, AIMS said. The two groups were financial supporters of the IP Showcase at NAB 2017.

“With the merging of the two organizations, we have a larger voice and a single place for technical and marketing discussions amongst a larger group of industry leaders,” said Rich Zwiebel, formerly MNA chairman, in a prepared statement. “As AIMS, we will be able to provide a much more compelling message to the industry, assuring true industry-wide audio/video IP interoperability across the broadcast, installed systems, and live sound markets. We are excited to be a part of this major step forward in standards-based IP interoperability.”

AIMS: aimsalliance.org