The audiovisual world in the digital age
The audivisual sector faces an unavoidable digital transition
Audiovisual world’s history goes back to the history of cinema and television. This sector has never stopped evolving and offering consumers the latest image and sound technologies.
Today, it is facing an unprecedented digital transition. Indeed, following the explosion of numerous video and streaming platforms in the world such as YouTube or Netflix, this sector must adapt to continue to live and offer content in line with today’s world but above all corresponding to the changing needs of consumers.
The emergence of streaming has turned everything upside down. Where television and radio have always been king and have been invited into the home, streaming appeared in the 2000s on our connected devices: telephones, computers, tablets and then television sets. This new way of consuming entertainment, series and films allows us to watch and listen content directly online. Once again, thank you internet ! 👌
In this new world where everything is moving faster and the consumer wants everything, all the time and fast, streaming makes it possible to watch content from any device, at any time and especially anywhere !
How is the audiovisual industry trying to get ahead of the game ?
First, by offering free content. Where Netflix offers a monthly subscription, TV channels offer their free applications containing free content. This is their main differentiation criterion and the main players in this market (especially in Europe) want to keep this free model while remaining on a balanced economic model.
Secondly, data uses also benefits this sector in terms of knowing its audience better and targeting its offer according to it, depending on the channel and the time slot.
Finally, the content personalization, modes of consumption and distribution: it is also through these axes that the future of the audiovisual industry is at stake. On the one hand, it is possible to offer Internet users content according to their tastes, their consumption habits and perhaps one day even according to their current mood.
On the other hand, it is the possibility of broadcasting quality content by updating the latest developments in terms of image and sound at any time.
Whatever one may say, the digital transformation of a company is essential to live correctly in the current economic ecosystem. For “traditional” sectors (by which I mean sectors that have existed for a number of years and have a particular way of operating, such as banking or the audiovisual sector), it can sometimes be difficult to challenge the giants that are managing to ride this digital wave. The important thing is and will always be the ability of these companies to reinvent themselves at all levels !
The impact of covid 19
It would be absurd to discuss this digital transition without mentioning the global pandemic that has inevitably accelerated the process.
The audiovisual sector is one of the sectors that has suffered from this crisis, notably because of the closure of cinemas, the total halt to filming and the fact that all productions have been put on hold.
However, the television sector has continued to break its audience records, and for good reason! Indeed, the consequences of the lockdown were only beneficial for this sector as people stayed at home without being able to work, the hours spent in front of a screen exploded. A study carried out by Assurance Prévention, an association of French insurers, showed that the average time spent watching television by 6–18 year olds was 6.7 hours per week before the lockdown and reached an average of 10 hours per week during the lockdown. Again, we are only talking about this age group here, so I’ll leave you to imagine the overall impact of this period on the audience !
But this trend can also be seen in VOD consumption, in other words, in streaming. According to the Barometer of the consumption of dematerialized cultural goods of the Hadopi, about one French person out of two (46%) has subscribed to a paying subscription of a streaming platform during the lockdown.
It is therefore undeniable that this trend has accelerated the process of digitalisation of audiovisual content. All the more so since, where digital was previously the third wheel, it has now grown so much that digital audiences are counted in a TV channel’s overall audiences.
It is also worth noting that the channels’ digital platforms do not only include replays of programmes but also AVOD and original productions that are only available on the digital side in order to broaden their catalog of offerings and, above all, attract new consumers to their pay services (e.g. MYTF1 MAX, Youtube Premium).
What goes next ?
We talk about the digital transition, the increasing consumption of digital content, the explosion of streaming platforms etc… But what about the environment? Is it a real subject taken into account in these strategies for the digitalisation of processes and content? Is this differentiation of today, which will be a criterion of choice for tomorrow, part of the priorities of these national and international groups in full explosion?
To find out more, discover my next article right here 👇
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About this article
This article has been written by a student on the Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Advanced Masters in Digital Strategy Management. As part of a content creation assignment, students are given the task of writing articles based on their digital interests and disseminate the articles online. Articles are marked but we make minimal changes to the content. Thanks for reading! James Barisic, Programme Director, MS DSM.
