ABSTRACT
Media companies – and their management teams – must innovate to survive in a constantly evolving technology landscape. Ten key possible future developments in the media business are identified: (1) The primacy of Intellectual Property ownership will grow, and especially so if blockchain solutions like Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) reach mass-market use, clarifying content ownership across the full user lifetime, and empowering creators. (2) Artificial Intelligence will have major impact in all phases of content development, production, distribution and monetisation – and also content moderation. (3) Star power will both increase and (with synthetic humans and voices) become more complex across media channels. (4) Global diversification of storytelling voices will continue; the Anglo-centric world view will continue to diminish in media dominance. (5) Direct and indirect (affiliate-driven) e-commerce will integrate more directly with content distribution, developing a viable monetisation channel. (6) Subscription will continue to be the most highly rated monetisation tool, because of the clarity and optimisation of its customer lifetime value. (7) Non-media companies and governments will continue to grow as media producers. (8) Digital privacy debates will remain a contentious issue. (9) Information warfare will proliferate, as will counter strategies. Both sides of the conflict will increasingly use AI. (10) Reputation will be the new business equity, to be protected and curated as carefully as financial investment. The chapter concludes with an analysis of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Waters Production, which is incorporating blockchain and NFTs into its output.
