Media

The world of media is changing at a rapid pace, and long-term beliefs about the sources of value in a given business model, media segment, or geography are also changing. In this shifting landscape, there is increasing demand for the kind of comprehensive there is a need to study the way consumers and advertisers are spending their hard-earned cash on media and entertainment. Online gaming & e-sports media are attracting a large group of young audiences everyday shifting focus from Cable TV media & traditional video game media platforms as well. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new suite of technologies capable of performing tasks that usually require human intelligence, e.g. speech recognition, decision making or learning. AI is being rapidly adopted as the business reality for many global industries. Its role in the entertainment and media industry is remarkable.

Over the last 2 decades, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become the most preferred strategic tool of firms in the media industry. 2019 has seen an unprecedented number of companies acquiring or merging with other businesses. Meredith’s acquisition of Time, Inc in the January before last has had ramifications far beyond that 12-month span. Much of the significant M&A activity in 2019 was in service of bolstering and broadening publisher’ existing offerings. The internationalization rate of firms, especially for non-U.S. firms, and their level of focus on the media industries both appear to improve economic performance. These results, based on data available when AOL Time Warner and Vivendi Universal M&A deals took place, raise the issue of the economic rationality of such mergers. Since the mid-1960s these "film studios" have gone through several waves of M&A (Balio, 1998; Gomery, 1998), resulting in the megamerger of AOL and Time Warner and the more recent takeover of MGM/UA by Sony (Clark, 2004;Laporte, 2005).

The entertainment and media market is entering a new phase of development. The lines that once separated the entertainment and media, technology and telecoms industries are becoming more and more blurred. Major content producers have become vertically aligned and integrated with distribution platforms that allow them to access end customers more efficiently, and Internet and telecoms giants are starting to create content and build local integrated ecosystems. The distinctions between segments are blurring, such as the distinctions between print and digital; video games and sports; terrestrial, cable and online TV; and social and traditional media. As we look ahead, the current changes will become more & more impressive. Trend defining yet still-developing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning, as well as augmented & virtual reality, will continue to remake the industry.

Essel Group