MediaTech Radar is a monthly newsletter put together by IABM’s Head of Knowledge Lorenzo Zanni. It focuses on a spotlight topic in MediaTech and reflects on a series of past, present, and future business developments in the industry. In this edition, our spotlight topic is Talent.

MediaTech Spotlight: Talent

A spotlight topic in MediaTech.

• IABM is about to publish a report focusing on the talent shortage in MediaTech. Here, I wanted to share some of the main highlights of this report, including the causes of this shortage and the ways in which the industry could address it.

The main reasons for this shortage include:

• Digital transformation, with digital skills now needed also being in demand outside MediaTech.
• MediaTech roles offer lower salaries on average than similar roles in some other industries.
• There is a lack of visibility for MediaTech employment opportunities and benefits.
• Poor working conditions and limited opportunities for remote working exist in some roles.

Ways in which the industry can address these issues include:

• Improve awareness of technical roles and opportunities in the industry.
• Strengthen links with educational establishments.
• Provide training and better/more flexible working conditions to retain talent.
• Improve diversity and inclusion to increase the MediaTech talent pool.

MediaTech Watchlist: Netflix, Hollywood Strikes, AI and more…

A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.

• Netflix reported that its ad-supported tier reached almost 5m monthly active users in May. According to the IBC365 article reporting this news: “Netflix says that the number of subscribers on the ad tier had more than doubled since the start of 2023, and that the median age of a user of the tier is 34 years old.” The young demographic will certainly be attractive to advertisers though the ad-tier represents only 2% of its total paying subscribers – a drop in the ocean so far. However, this preliminary data suggests that advertising has not significantly cannibalized the ad-free tier for now and has driven some new growth – 25% of new signups are on the ad-based tier.
• IBC365 reported a comprehensive account of Hollywood writers going on strike in May due to concerns over salary and safeguards following the sudden rise of Generative AI. Generative AI is already being applied to creating content, which threatens the existence of creative jobs like scriptwriting. This trend might grow in the next months and years, and I can understand why creators are worried. CEO of Bertelsmann Thomas Rabe told the FT (requires subscription) that despite copyright challenges, AI-generated content could be positive for creative industries: “If it’s your content, for which you own the copyright, and then you use it to train the software, you can in theory generate content like never before.”
• This NY Times article (requires subscription) focuses on Runaway AI, a startup aiming “to do for video what ChatGPT has done for text.” The technology remains immature: it can only generate videos up to 4 seconds in length so far and is still prone to misunderstanding some text prompts. However, as mentioned in my previous newsletters, we should not underestimate the speed of development of Generative AI technology.
• Disney took a $1.5bn impairment charge after some content was cut from its streaming services. As previously reported, Disney is reducing its content spend along with other streamers to cope with increasing macroeconomic pressure. Disney also said that: “The Company currently estimates it may incur further impairment charges of up to approximately $0.4 billion related to produced content.”
• This TVBEurope article nicely analyzes the business implications of handling SDR and HDR content, including the increasing levels of complexity and cost caused by mismanagement of the two formats.
• Staff cuts at media businesses continue, with Paramount Global announcing a 25% cut of its US staff across its Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks divisions in May.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have information/ideas you’d like to share, please get in touch with us. 

Lorenzo Zanni

Head of Knowledge

IABM