Local GPU vs Public Cloud for Broadcast AI: the Math We Ran for 500 Stations
By the KAVANA engineering team — June 2026
When we started having the local-versus-cloud conversation with stations in 2023, the standard advice from AI infrastructure consultants was unanimous: use the cloud. Marginal cost pricing, no upfront capital, elasticity, managed infrastructure, pay only for what you use. All of that is accurate. None of it is the right frame for how most broadcast stations actually work.
We have now run cost and capability analyses for approximately 500 stations across the range of Chinese broadcasting — county-level radio, city-level FM, regional television, provincial broadcasting groups. This post explains what we found, the math behind it, where the cloud is genuinely better, and where the numbers point clearly in the other direction.
The Baseline Numbers: a County-Level Station, Three Years
