Like organizations in virtually all industries, media and entertainment enterprises experienced a massive, irreversible shift and transformation to a predominantly remote workforce during and after the pandemic. With virtualized teams moving their entire work efforts online, media and entertainment firms have increasingly vested interests in cloud technologies—especially beyond the common SaaS offerings to multi-cloud and hybrid cloud deployments for supporting more resilient, secure IP generation workflows.

Prior to the pandemic, the media and entertainment industry was already experiencing a surge in demand for online content and streaming media. Post-pandemic, the insatiable consumer appetite for internet-based entertainment coupled with the industry’s workforce dispersion has resulted in continued, accelerated adoption of the cloud and hybrid environments.

According to Nutanix’s third annual Enterprise Cloud Index, media and entertainment enterprises are ahead of other industries when it comes to using multiple public cloud services and deploying hyper-converged infrastructures (HCI). With the creation and management of petabytes of data a regular affair for these firms, it’s not surprising that media and entertainment firms lead the charge in leveraging cloud-based solutions. Continued public/hybrid cloud and HCI adoption will allow these firms to realize ever-greater efficiencies and optimal economics for their production and distribution workflows.

The media and entertainment industry is arguably no stranger to artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). For years, studios and film/game development houses have used AI/ML across their creative workflows for faster, more automated content creation.

In 2022 and beyond, media and entertainment enterprises are further integrating AI/ML into their business and operations. For example, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment recently hosted a webinar describing its use of advanced AI and ML applications in developing a robust self-services business intelligence platform.

When it comes to automating the display of personalized content, the media and entertainment industry will continue to leverage data science and AI/ML to present viewers with more relevant, impactful content.

For years, online platforms such as Netflix and Hulu have used ML to predict user preferences and automate the presentation of viewing options. These days, traditional media streaming platforms, as well as newer offerings such as TikTok, are incorporating AI-driven smart content offerings, moving past rudimentary intelligent recommendation systems to end-to-end automated content experiences personalized with AI.

On the big screen, leading film studios are integrating ML-driven personalization of film trailers that display specific elements for different target audiences and viewers. By combining structured/unstructured data and ML to match viewers with the most relevant content, these platforms will continue to refine their methods for effective, efficient content distribution.

On the advertising operations side, media and entertainment firms—faced with increasingly competitive and challenging business conditions—must innovate their content delivery mechanisms to generate more revenue at a lower operating cost. Using AI/ML, companies are achieving these ends. By implementing hyper-targeted advertising campaigns that unify data from disparate sources to create fully realized customer profiles, advertisers and media platforms can:

• Deliver more unique, personalized offers
• Predict churn rates
• Increase conversions by placing advertising optimally in space and time

The metaverse is still, at best, a nebulous concept to most enterprises and consumers alike. This is changing fast, however, as metaverse features and technologies like play-to-earn gaming, online property, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and cryptocurrencies are becoming all the rage in 2022 and beyond. And despite crypto’s recent downturn, the metaverse and its foundational technologies are continuing to create new opportunities for media and entertainment businesses.

For instance, Disney launched its strategic initiative around the metaverse recently, in what it calls “next-generation storytelling.” And in June 2022, former Disney, Sony, and Lucasfilm creatives announced the kick-off of land sales for its “Notorious Frogs of Frogland” NFT collection and associated metaverse called “NewPangea.” It’s safe to assume that major film development and entertainment studios are looking towards the metaverse for blending physical and digital environments in new entertainment offerings.

As entertainment consumers migrate in droves to online viewing outlets, media and entertainment enterprises are faced with the constant challenge of mitigating intellectual property (IP) infringement.

According to a 2019 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, digital piracy, illegal copying, and the sharing of stolen/shared studio IP cost the U.S. film and TV industry an estimated $29 billion a year. In 2022 and beyond, media and entertainment firms are expected to increasingly leverage blockchain’s immutable ledger technology to implement new media content lifecycle tracking tools and digital watermarking capabilities, to name a few.

The 2014 Sony Pictures cyber attack was a wakeup call for the media and entertainment industry. For the first time, industry stalwarts became painfully aware of how cyber failures could cripple even the most prominent, well-prepared enterprises. And while the number of industry cyber attacks has increased in both frequency and severity in the years following the Sony hack, the global pandemic has dramatically accelerated the activity of cyber criminals looking to capitalize on the global crisis.

Like organizations in other industries, media and entertainment firms have also shifted to remote work, resulting in more porous security controls than ever before and expanded attack surfaces. In 2022 and beyond, media and entertainment enterprises are fervently bolstering their cyber defenses to support their new computing paradigms and secure underlying digital transformation efforts.

In short, the digital transformation trends shaping the media and entertainment industry in 2022 and beyond are poised to usher in vast, new opportunities as well as unprecedented challenges. Enterprises looking to capitalize on the digital tools and technologies driving these transformations are well-advised to consult the proper digital transformation partner to help guide them in their journey.

PDG Consulting can help your organization redesign its operations for a digital future. Some of the companies we have helped digitally transform their systems include DIRECTV, CBS, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Studios. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your digital transformation initiatives.