In 2022, media and entertainment companies will notice a familiar landscape relying on consumer behavior dynamism, technological know-how, competitive intensity, and industry reshaping. Add the continuing results of the pandemic on business conditions and the workforce, an inflationary economy, as well as a charged social and political landscape, and company leaders are steering through unpredictable terrain. Allow me to share five trends to watch around ahead since the industry actively works to reframe its future.
1. Content distribution gets (more) complex
Investment in new original content shows no sign of slowing even as move into 2022. Content articles are the fuel that drives consumer interest and engagement across platforms - streaming, broadcast and cable networks. How the content reaches consumers, however, often involves problematic decision-making process.
The direct-to-consumer (D2C) pivot will the key strategic priority for that industry in the coming year. Operators and investors alike are centered on subscriber growth and retention since the key performance indicators for services where switching costs for consumers are minimal. Despite their rapid growth over the past 2 yrs, most D2C services run by media companies remain unprofitable and consume cash, devouring resources from the overall enterprise.
The administrative centre intensity connected with streaming highlights the importance for media companies to reap the financial benefits of the linear ecosystem. Whilst cord cutting gradually shrinks the universe of traditional video subscriptions, broadcast and cable networks remain income engines. In order to avoid a dislocated unwinding of the legacy pay-TV environment as well as valuable monthly subscriber fees and advertising revenues, network owners must always direct fresh content, including sports, for their linear channels to keep viewers engaged.
Around ahead, operators (specially those without the scale or capital resources to travel truly “all in” on streaming today) will likely be facing challenging decisions around programming their streaming platforms to drive growth, as well as remaining profitable but structurally declining linear businesses to build income. This is the tricky balancing act.
Functioning on these decisions will need sophisticated modeling and disciplined business planning that spans creative and executive priorities to own optimal combination of growth and financial outcomes.
2. Simplified and customised experiences take center stage
In 2022, consumers continually search for unique experiences and ubiquitous use of entertainment content. Firms that solve the discoverability puzzle and aggregate content within a more intuitive and accessible way will rise to the top.
Consumers expect effortless interactions throughout the end-to-end customer journey, from sign-up to usage and billing. Accordingly, we will have more companies taking part in the streaming value chain. Network owners, broadband providers and connected TV manufacturers is going to be doing their best to simplify, optimize and integrate layers and compatibility tools across platforms to enhance the person experience.
Content discovery is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers as they bounce between streaming services trying to find new series and old hits one of many avalanche of obtainable programming. Tech-savvy firms that harness valuable viewership data to give customers numerous content they desire will like an aggressive advantage. In 2022, streamers playing catch-up will refine their recommendation engines based on demonstrated subscriber preferences and usage history, and tailor their marketing - in-platform and also over external channels - to make consumers conscious of each of the viewing options.
Bundling may also boost the consumer experience. The scaled digital-native streamers provide a various integrated offerings to their video subscribers - shopping, gaming, devices, and other digital services. Media companies with diversified businesses or innovative partnerships with any other companies - including within the digital asset arena (e.g., non-fungible tokens, or NFTs) - will try to create their own “flywheels” that offer a portfolio of offerings with their streaming subscribers, driving new sign-ups and adding stickiness for the D2C revenue model, extending living of the customer relationship.

A deep lineup of desirable programming is table stakes for your streaming game. In the environment where rrndividuals are juggling an expanding collection of services and switching costs are low, media companies should deliver an event that keeps subscribers connected and engaged.
3. Movie night will resume the theatre
The end results in the pandemic for the movie business have already been severe. Cinema owners struggled to be open as moviegoers stayed away because of virus concerns and limited accessibility to fresh film product. Whilst the emergence from the Omicron COVID-19 variant is adding uncertainty, you will find signals pointing into a constructive path forward for the box office in 2022.
In 2021, 13 films grossed over $100 million according to Box Office Mojo, down from over 30 in 2019. Nonetheless, brings about 2021 indicated a long lasting audience appetite for “blockbuster” features as reopening across the nation gained steam, prompted partly with the distribution of effective vaccines. Looking ahead, a strong slate of long-anticipated tentpole movies should help drive the recovery in theatre admissions.
A change which will hold in 2022 will be the abbreviation of the exclusive theatrical window to approximately 45 days and, for a few mid-size films, a day-and-date release approach that permits people to view new movies from the theatre or at home. From a difficult number of negotiations between theatres and studios, the show industry appears to have aligned with an approach that preserves the highlights of the theatrical window while acknowledging a realistic look at streaming popularity.
The shorter first-run window enables studios and theatres (and creative talent) to reap the benefits of successful major releases - namely the huge ticket sales that happen on opening weekend and also the following a few months, in addition to the ability for studios to leverage marketing spend in support of a film’s premiere into future distribution windows, specifically fast-following D2C availability.
4. NFTs have entered the media chat
Excitement is building around NFTs as being a vehicle for media companies to grow engagement with their content and IP and might give you a future monetization model because market matures.
Early adopters are getting NFTs related to sports, art, collectibles plus more, acquiring one-of-a-kind digital assets which are easily tradable and whose ownership and authenticity are recorded via blockchain technology.
To participate encounter, media information mill forming relationships with NFT technical specialists and marketplaces to produce offerings that enable consumers to participate in a completely new way making use of their favorite characters, movie and TV show scenes and also other content. NFTs allow media industry players to make cross-platform consumer interactivity anchored in proven IP and to build new communities by extending the buyer relationship into emerging digital areas.
In 2022, the media and entertainment industry will undertake a lot of NFT innovation and experimentation. The economic return of those efforts is unclear; today, NFT projects on tv and entertainment space are essentially marketing investments supposed to power engagement and access fans - in particular those active in crypto - eager to deepen their connection to popular content. Down the road, media companies could generate royalty income in connection with secondary sales of NFTs… perhaps in transactions associated with activities taking place within the metaverse.
5. M&A remains a well known item around the menu
Throughout the last Twelve months, the media and entertainment industry saw the biggest players execute with a selection of transactions - landscape-shifting megamergers, bolt-on acquisitions of smaller studios including properties positioned in international markets that produce localized content, targeted deals for niche IP assets that can be leveraged to produce fresh programming, and innovative joint ventures meant to accelerate global streaming growth on a capital-efficient basis.
In 2022, the consolidation of studios and networks continues as companies seek to build this article, capabilities and scale needed to battle the digital-native behemoths who make use of tremendous financial and operational advantages.
After deal headlines fade, management teams will face the heavy lift of integration, right-sizing and realigning front office operations, IT systems and company infrastructure to attain ambitious efficiency goals. Cost savings realized through integration will fund future growth investment and boost profits, a vital objective because the industry transitions through the stable, high-margin linear world into a streaming ecosystem that drives less-profitable revenue (for the time being).
Robust conditions privately and public capital markets are enabling companies to trade non-core businesses and also other corporate assets that no more fit their evolving growth strategies or capital allocation priorities. Accordingly, asset divestitures might be a key trend in 2022 too. Activist investors will play a task in a few of these transactions, serving as another catalyst for change.
The press and entertainment industry happens to be a whirlwind of strategic activity as companies build, renovate and tear down business portfolios as a result of market developments, and 2022 won't be any different. These five trends indicate that the media marketplace is poised for another year of exciting change, as companies drive innovation, tackle new challenges and capture the opportunity to position themselves for growth.
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