Navtej Kohli Business Blog

Now at the start of the new financial year let’s gaze into the crystal ball. Do you wish to know what the entertainment industry would look like in the year 2015?

TV
The television of future will be familiar in many ways, but fundamentally different nonetheless. Most of the programs will still be produced by major studios and pushed out to consumers through cable service providers. But gone is the concept of “TV stations” and hour-by-hour program schedules. Video on Demand will be the mantra giving consumers the power to see what they want, when they want to, on any of the video-capable devices.

The living room TV is still one of the most popular viewing choices, and all the new technologies have made the screens and surround sound systems bigger, cheaper, and better in every conceivable way. But mobile watching became a serious contender; G4/G5 networks and WiMax version 2 provide enough bandwidth for high-definition wireless video streams.

The iPhones and BlackBerries of 2008 now look as clunky and primitive as a 2001-era phone did then. Now as mobile phones are more used for entertainment content, the average mobile phone has either a large roll-up screen or a low-power digital video projector.

Movies
The distinction between full-length movies and a TV series with high production values has lessened. The on-demand revolution of 2012 was contemporary with the switch from traditional, phased-out theatrical release movies to day-and-date DVD and Blue-ray releases. From there, it was a short step toward letting Comcast and Verizon show Toy Story 4 on demand for $4.99 on premiere night.

Nearly every theater relies on digital distribution and projection now, pushing celluloid into vintage theaters. In order to stay alive in competition with same-night releases on every viewing platform available, cinema chains have shown an innovation. Soulless multiplexes gave way to larger-than-life experiences, sit-down dinner services in the theaters, and liquor licenses to go along with the new “R-18″ rating.

Music

There’s been a major drama in the music business. New artists don’t sign record deals anymore, but instead distribute their music directly to fans through their own Facebook sites and Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes. The word here is “distribute” and not “sell”.

Free access to music and short video clips has become deeply penetrated, selling songs isn’t profitable anymore. Instead, artists make money in the traditional way: by touring, selling T-shirts, and hawking premium editions of their albums directly to their fans. Margins are high since the record-company middlemen are out of picture, and with the assurance that most of the money goes straight into the pockets of musicians and songwriters, many fans don’t mind paying up for these luxury items. Talent and hard work once again matter more than flashy promotions.

Conclusion
In a nutshell, the above scenarios depict that eventually entertainment will be available anywhere and everywhere, it will be personalized and interactive and subscription and targeted advertising will take place of buying CD’s and DVD’s. In this scenario the consumers will get what they really want.
Companies need to evaluate these facts and plan for future. If you invest today wisely, then you will surely reap high benefits tomorrow.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Business Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.