Media and Entertainment Trends for 2020

by Viktorija Nikoloska

The media and entertainment industry is one of the fastest-growing industries that have been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, just like any other business. In the last decade, the media and entertainment industry has gone through an immense transformation as never before. The digital media imposed itself above the previous regular distribution methods and it urged media companies to begin adopting digital strategies as part of their regular business tasks. Moreover, digital media has introduced itself in the advertising and animation, as well as in music, radio, films, gaming, etc. By doing so, companies in the media and entertainment industry were required to embrace the latest digital strategies if they wanted to keep up with the current media trends.

And now, with the development of the situation with the COVID-19, the media and entertainment industry has been mandated to implement even more digital strategies in order to keep up with the changes that happened on a worldwide scale. Similarly, this industry will mark several significant trends from 2020 onwards throughout the new decade. But how many of those trends will truly mark the new decade and how many will be prevented from flourishing due to the Coronavirus? After all, the economic crisis and recession due to COVID-19 cannot go without causing consequences. Read the article below, go through the current trends in the media and entertainment industry, and discover our opinion on the matter.

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Video Streaming

Video streaming has become a prominent trend throughout the years and has marked an even higher peak during the Coronavirus pandemic. By the middle of 2020, a streaming war is expected to happen in which various media companies will try to find the best way of establishing a direct relationship with their consumers. Leaders in the video streaming industry such as Netflix and Amazon have been exposed to an increase in the number of their competitors. HBO Max, Apple, Disney, and WarnerMedia have noticed the possibilities for advancement that the video streaming offers, and they also joined the media and entertainment industry. And now with the newest developments due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the number of media companies that have started with video streaming has increased even more than before, thus making this trend the most remarkable of all.

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However, in the end, the video steaming companies that will be most successful in this industry will be those that offer the best content libraries that will satisfy the user’s expectations. In addition to video, companies that include music and games in their libraries will have a higher probability of succeeding in the media and entertainment industry in the new decade.

5G Network

2020 brought changes in the telecom industry by introducing the 5G wireless network. Although there have been many controversies about whether 5G is good or bad for the people, it is inevitable that it will not only affect telecom operators but it will also make a change in the experiences that will facilitate faster broadband. The development of 5G may contribute to evolving the purpose of content in general. Thanks to the evolution of 5G, both artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) have also marked advancement in the media and entertainment industry.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence has marked the last decade with its increasing dominance in the tech world. It has been used for the improvement of the customer experience and numerous other business operations. Starting with 2020 and onward, AI will continue dominating the media and entertainment industry, especially because the media companies will want to use AI for personalized content recommendations and adequate advertisements.

With the help of AI, media and entertainment companies are able to discover user behavior patterns and know what type of ads to show them. Furthermore, businesses and online creators who use AI learn user behavior better and know how to create more efficient content and advertisements. In addition to AI, the other two technologies that help businesses get closer to their customers are machine learning and big data technology.

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Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR)

Another trend in the media and entertainment industry for 2020 is the further development of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). While VR has higher applicability in the entertainment industry, AR is trending in the gaming industry. However, VR is a technology for creating 3D games, along with the help of biosensors which determine the position of players in the 3D space. It also helps in the creation of virtual museums, theatres, galleries, and parks. The latest trend in VR and AR will continue developing in the decade that has just begun and it will provide the possibility of viewing 3D images with real size in front of you. Businesses are slowly adapting to the implementation of VR and AR in their companies so that they can meet the needs of their customers and challenge their competitors.

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How COVID-19 Will Affect the Media and Entertainment Industry Trends for 2020

With the current Coronavirus pandemic situation, the media and entertainment industry may develop at a more rapid speed, especially because staying at home means using the media more than usual. While many entertainment places closed during this period (such as theatres, cinemas, museums, parks, concert halls), online types of entertainment gained a lot of income. As mentioned before, the development of VR and AR helps in the creation of virtual museums, theatres, cinemas, parks, and galleries, which will try and compensate for the closure of the actual and real entertainment places.

However, although the development of the online media and entertainment industry is on the rise, the production of movies will lose billions of dollars and this may be the end of the movie-making era if there is no cure for the Coronavirus soon. Therefore, we must have in mind the advantages and the disadvantages of this situation and how it will affect both the media and the entertainment industry.

In the end, living our lives online is possible up to some point. However, we cannot depend entirely on the creation of virtual worlds, when we are real human beings that have the need for personal life experiences in the actual world. Therefore, we need to adapt both the media and entertainment industry to the current trends and at the same time try and find a way to help it continue developing offline as much as online. It is left to us to witness what the following months will bring. But one thing is for sure: the media and entertainment trends will stay intact and the industry will continue adapting to changes.

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Will COVID-19 Affect the Media and Entertainment Industry Trends for 2020?