📈NAB Show Key Trend & Word Number 2: Hybrid
The industry has already diversified its stakes in several business areas in 2024, and I think that this is likely to continue in 2025 as well.
Diversification was the industry's natural response to risk increasing due to the emergence of a variety of threats such as inflation, which stifled consumers’ propensity to pay for entertainment and led to rising financial pressure on the fundamentals of the sector.
📊Business
From a business model perspective, media companies have diversified their position through the launch of ad-supported business models and the increasing reliance on live content, particularly sports (Netflix notably did this).
Hybrid business models are now the norm in the media and entertainment sector, and finding synergies between their sub-elements has become increasingly important (can technology help more with this?).
🎬Content
Content portfolios are becoming more hybrid as well. Not only are streamers increasingly relying on live sports but also the lines between short-form and long-form content are blurring.
For example, Netflix is exploring new programming formats such as short-form digital content while YouTube is revamping its TV app to enable creators: “to organize shows around episodes and seasons, mirroring what viewers have come to expect on subscription video platforms.”
☁️Technology
From a technology perspective, we have seen companies adopt a more hybrid approach to cloud investment in recent years due to their stricter cost controls.
Most businesses are now recognizing a healthy coexistence of cloud and on-premises. And, if you think about it, the same applies to the coexistence of other opposites like in-house and outsourced technology.
🧠People
AI is driving people to acquire hybrid skillsets. In various industries, including broadcast and media, skillsets are becoming more hybrid to be less vulnerable to AI-driven automation.
And I am seeing the adoption of hybrid (i.e., more democratic and multi-disciplinary) decision-making models in AI strategy to deal with the complexities of the technology (a very relevant trend for technology suppliers).
💬 What do you think? Is hybrid now the norm in our industry?
Stay tuned for the next post on Trend/Word 3!
And this is my previous post on Trend/Word Number 1 (AI) in case you missed it: https://lnkd.in/d6HwwkRm
P.S. I will see you at NAB Show with the Dovetail Creative Ltd team! Do contact me if you want to meet me there.
#NABShow2025 #HybridModels #MediaTech #TechTrends