Following a year of “drama” within the media and entertainment (M&E) industry. a new report from analysts EY looks at the current state of the industry and identifies trends for the future.
The report surveyed 150 US M&E board members, C-suite executives and their direct reports.
It states that during 2023 the M&E industry was hit by higher interest rates and rising economic uncertainty as well as the Hollywood strikes. “The storyline for the linear television business remains grim while the advertising sector churns through a period of volatility,” it adds. “Meanwhile, the streaming model still is not profitable for most M&E companies.”
It suggests that M&E companies are “zeroing in” on optimising content and media business portfolios and harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) to help rekindle growth ambitions and create sustained resiliency.
More than four out of five executives surveyed (83 per cent) said their companies have initiated AI projects or plan to within the next 12 months, reveals the report.
Over two-thirds (69 per cent) of all respondents said they expect GenAI will accelerate the process of content creation, which rises to 87 per cent of film, TV and video game production executives.
Companies are also looking at how to future-proof profitability by continuing to “consolidate, create new partnerships and streamline operations to permanently reduce expenses”.
More than two-thirds of respondents (68 per cent) said they expect that only one of today’s M&E conglomerates will remain as a stand-alone company in three years’ time; the other 32 per cent don’t expect any of them to remain independent.
The full report from EY is available to read here.
