The Media & Broadcasting Futures Report gathers the opinions of industry experts from across Europe, from producers to technical specialists from companies such as Infront Sports and Media, Spain Film Commission and Canal+.
It identifies four new themes that define the sector and create a “new extraordinary phenomenon” for the world of events, media, and broadcasting:
• A new wave of “physicality,” where the barriers between the real and the virtual blur, will give rise to truly global, communal, and immersive experiences: In the wake of the virtual spaces created during the pandemic and fostered by the evolution of 5G, a hybrid future, free from physical limitations, will captivate new audiences. Hybrid and immersive technologies will offer new social opportunities for media and broadcasting, as home entertainment consumption shifts from personal to communal. To fully benefit from the latest solutions, such as virtual reality technologies and so-called “digital twins,” products, services, and equipment must now be designed with this new landscape in mind.
• The latest wave of creativity is exploring new production methods with more accessible tools for everyone: The democratization of content creation and publishing means more creators are generating content in diverse formats and styles without formal training. This decentralized future of media is leading to the expansion of three micro-trends: support for creator communities, the increasing inclusion of broadcast studios, and the development of intuitive technology that doesn't require extensive specialized knowledge.
• During this era of reinventing media and broadcasting, we will see more production and use of the latest digital techniques adopted during lockdowns: The adoption of digital techniques by production and broadcasting companies to survive the pandemic, such as cloud-based systems and AI, has brought many benefits to audiences. Flexible, digital solutions will become increasingly relevant for the future of multimedia production. This leads to increased connected agility and creative collaboration, embracing intelligent processes that leverage the potential of AI, analytics, and automation; and virtual production, heralding a new era defined by flexibility, fluidity, and speed.
Teresa Azcona, vice president of the Spain Film Commission, comments: “Digitalization has impacted how we produce. Visual effects used to be part of post-production, but now we're starting to think about them from the very beginning.”
Being able to demonstrate sustainability in a quantifiable way will be essential for brands: Considering the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and COP26, new holistic approaches to sustainability will replace old models to forge a future in which environmental commitments and concerns become pillars of the sector. People are constantly demanding transparency from companies, and this also includes media and broadcasting companies, which, faced with the emergence of new sustainability models, will seek to leverage collaboration to address issues that require interprofessional action.
"If we can't assure our customers that we are environmentally responsible, that we are taking our impact into account, then we're not going to sell," says Teresa Azcona
Companies of all sizes have begun to realize the importance of staying ahead of the curve. For example, the Parisian company Oma Cinema is already rethinking traditions and has presented a detailed redesign of cinema interiors, hoping to combine the intimacy of home with the scale of the cinematic experience. Meanwhile, others, such as the Unreal Engine game development tool, allow content creators, like the filmmakers behind Disney's The Mandalorian series, to experiment with new tools and methods.
"The pandemic not only temporarily altered the way we work, but it has accelerated a series of changes that have transformed the industry forever," says Teresa Azcona. "It's a landscape that is still emerging, but it has arrived faster than we could have imagined.".
Adam Fry, Head of Business at Sony Solutions, states: “The media and entertainment sector is at the heart of innovative technologies that continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. At Sony, we have been working as a full-service provider for over 50 years in collaboration with industry professionals, and we are excited to share our vision of the future for them and for the audience.”
