The show goes on in the cloud
A joint report from PwC and Microsoft
Poised for a strong return
For the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, there’s no going back to the old way of doing things. COVID-19 has set in motion sweeping changes to the way M&E businesses operate. Social distancing has forced them to rethink virtually everything from how employees work to how content gets created, marketed and distributed.
During this pivotal moment in time, PwC and Microsoft have turned the lens on the media and entertainment industry to document how businesses are adapting to this disruption. We found a sense of urgency to fully embrace emerging technology advances that the industry has resisted in the past. M&E businesses are sharply focused on what is essential to survive now and to thrive in the future — and that’s digital transformation.
The show must go on...and it is, it’s just happening in the cloud.
In this report, you’ll find data and use cases to demonstrate how this crisis has catalyzed cloud innovation and revealed that the industry still has a lot of groundwork ahead to take full advantage of an array of technologies in the cloud. M&E businesses are early in the journey to ready their operations to power remote work, produce higher quality content, streamline operations and support inventive business models.
“The disruption created by COVID-19 has agitated the industry into accelerating innovation and digital transformation in areas that were previously only in planning stages of cloud migration. The stage is set for an industry-wide metamorphosis.”
The COVID-19 effect on the M&E industry
The under-delivery of episodic content could result in over $3.5 billion in lost ad revenue for broadcasters. Exhibitors are facing solvency concerns due to shuttered theaters, and studios have had to shift release dates and their distribution strategies. Major sporting events had to be canceled or postponed, including the Olympics. All told, the public companies in the media and entertainment industry have experienced a -5.4% shareholder return since February 2020.
“With a COVID-19 double-digit billion-dollar hit to the media and entertainment sector in 2020, PwC’s clients are focused on driving innovation and efficiency into the entire ecosystem through intelligent cloud transformation.”
Panning the camera across the industry’s landscape: Highlights from the paper on how the industry is changing
- From big screens to bite-sized content; entertainment companies will increasingly deliver content the way customers want to consume it, fundamentally altering the supply chain
- M&E companies are breaking free of legacy productions systems to unleash the cloud
- Cost control and employee safety are top of mind for M&E CFOs, igniting the industry to cultivate virtual collaboration fueled by cloud technologies
- COVID-19 is provoking a conversation about the value of print advertising as digital ad agencies dive deeper into technologies to demonstrate the ROI of digital ads.
- Forward-thinking companies are leveraging data analytics to stay close to fans in a socially distant environment and drive operational efficiencies
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