It should be no secret to anyone that the $800+ billion global entertainment market is split in two. Legacy businesses - broadcast and cable TV, standalone videos, and the cinema are struggling, while streaming and online platforms are thriving and multiplying.
Of the legacy businesses only, the cinema is ever so slowly moving toward higher attendance levels. We see this in Asia, especially in China where the cinema is booming. As for broadcast and cable TV, it is on a downward trajectory with no end in sight.
There is also a movement from legacy entertainment models that were national to streaming models which are universal in reach. This has had a major impact on content distribution as online entertainment is chasing after the same audiences creating massive market redundancy and overlap.
When speaking about the cinema, the exclusive theatrical distribution window is essentially over. This makes film distribution ever more complex. The saving grace for movies is that streaming platforms are not the premier form of viewing movies, that honor is still held by the cinema.
For streamers, the focus is on advertising while retaining subscribers by the use of long episodical series spread over some timeframe. Whereas on the movie side the trend is for less production by the studios but content of higher quality and a significant increase in independent movie production for both fictional and documentary films.
There has been a shift in funding as well. For movies the move toward multi-party funding for films vs. single source will grow - as for example the recent 30-picture deal inked between Paramount and Domain Capital.
In summary, the massive global entertainment industry is currently adapting to a new playing field, where streaming will be king but other players, such as the cinema, will still be viable and significant.
By: Jim Lavorato
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