“We have shifted to a ‘video first’ world… …a world that does not include a lot of reading, but watching.” (Forbes, September 2017)
‘Disruption’ is an over-used word in business at the moment, but the shift to ‘video first’ really does mean disruption in the media industry.
Whether you’re a broadcaster, filmmaker, production house, agency or marketer, things are changing. New technologies. New competitors, using new business models.
So much is changing, it’s hard to make sense of it all. The Moving Images Moving Landscape survey, which we ran earlier this year, gives some insights. Here are some sneak peeks.
Content creators are under pressure
It’s easier and cheaper to create content than ever before. We all have cameras in our pockets.
Is it easier to create good content? Unlikely. But expectations are higher and there’s an urgent need to demonstrate value.
Survey results sneak peek
46% of those who fund their own projects say funding is getting harder.
52% of those who work for clients think budgets are getting smaller.
‘Clients expect TV quality for an online video budget.’
Entertainment media moves beyond film and TV
In the 1950s we wondered whether cinemas would survive the spread of TV. Now TV is under threat.
Netflix investment in original content is US$6 billion per annum and growing. It plans to release 80 films in 2018 – around twice the amount of any established Hollywood studio.
Web series have come of age. In 2017, four submissions to the Melbourne WebFest had seven figure budgets.
In 2017, the top one-seventh (14 per cent) of new releases took a whopping 86¢ of every dollar at the Australian box office.
What does that mean for the rest? Box office distribution is not the only way to monetise. Online streaming has the potential for a longer tail. Consumers can watch what they want, when they want. So productions for niche markets may be more viable. One factor behind the documentary boom?
Survey results sneak peek
36% of those making entertainment/infotainment content have created content for streaming services like Netflix and Stan.
Video advertising moves beyond film, TV and online
Out of home advertising is increasingly digital – and increasingly video.
Shopping centre TV channels. Video advertising at train stations and bus stops. Even doctors, dentists and hospitals have their own streaming TV.
Out-of-home offers precise geographic targeting for local businesses. It also lets larger brands pinpoint areas where their target market gather.
Survey results sneak peek
Almost 1 in 3 respondents is using video in out of home advertising – it’s fast catching up with TV, used by 40% of respondents.
In fact, out of home ranks in top three channels for spend more often than TV does (possibly because some of our smaller respondents just don’t do TV), but TV ranks higher for effectiveness.
There’s a lot to learn about managing digital content
Looking after your content IP is becoming more and more complicated. There are many factors combining into a perfect storm.
- With more people creating more content than ever before, it’s harder to know what you’ve got. To collect it in one system and use metadata so you can find what you want quickly.
- More partners in the production chain make security more complicated.
- Higher quality cameras mean more data volume and place a strain on storage. Some of the 8K cameras now available can capture over 60TB of data every single hour.
- With more distribution platforms come more formats.
- Reversioning and re-use of content are also on the rise.
Are policies and processes keeping up? Our survey suggests they’re not.
Survey results sneak peak
Managing content (filing, searching etc.) takes on average 25 days a year.
37% have no formal policies or processes for looking after content.
A whopping 12% of respondents have lost content completely, at least once.
The pace of change is fast and furious. The future for the Australian media industry is uncertain, but exciting. It’s vital to keep on top of technology, trends and opportunities.
The full report from the Preferred Media Moving Image, Moving Landscape survey will be published next month. If you’d like a copy on release, get in touch and we’ll add you to the list.
