MediaTech Radar
February
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 ISE 2023.
MediaTech Spotlight: ISE 2023
A spotlight topic in MediaTech.
- I attended Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2023 on 31 January and 1 February 2023, as the show returned to its usual dates – it was held in May last year. This event is always a good mirror of MediaTech convergence as it features the application of various audio-visual (AV) technologies in multiple non-media industries such as corporate and education.
- Attendance: ISE attendance was 58.1K, up by 33% from last year. The show looked very busy, particularly on Wednesday when crowds queued for 30-60 mins to enter the venue – this was one of the major pain points in an otherwise good experience for visitors.
- Location: Anecdotal feedback on the location was overwhelmingly positive. Most seemed to be happy about staying in Barcelona as well (I certainly was, as it meant no travel for me), particularly as everyone was provided with a free transport ticket to easily move around the city (a sustainable choice as well).
- Exhibition: The exhibition was organized in different Technology Zones as last year, with technology used in specific sectors grouped in the same hall. Hall 2 and 3, dedicated to Residential & Smart Building and Multi-Technology respectively, were arguably the busiest halls. If I had to create a word cloud based on the messages I saw in these two halls, it would have the word “hybrid” standing out from the others.
- Trends: I believe that the drivers of ISE attendance are here to stay. As I highlighted in my presentation on MediaTech Convergence delivered in the Content Production & Distribution Summit at the event, trends such as the continuation of hybrid experiences and the increasing use of video in corporate communications are catalysts for convergence. And by this, I mean convergence between non-media technology and MediaTech. There were more signs of this at the show – including the launch of the Content Production & Distribution Summit exploring this trend.
MediaTech Watchlist: Disney, Backlight, Gen Z and more…
A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.
- Disney announced that it would cut 7,000 jobs in February as part of a $5.5bn cost-cutting initiative. Disney’s shares jumped 9% in after-hours trading after the news as the company beat its profitability target, cutting losses by about $400m to $1.1bn, even though Disney+ shed 2.4m subscribers. This is a sign of the changing times in streaming valuations, with the focus moving from subscriber growth to profits due to a darkened macroeconomic outlook.
- I talked about Backlight’s investment in MediaTech last year. The company announced a reorganization of its portfolio in two divisions in February: Backlight Creative (featuring iconik, ftrack and Celtx product lines) and Backlight Streaming (featuring Wildmoka and Zype solutions). According to the press release: “Backlight’s new divisional structure aligns complementary teams and products around shared target markets, media workflows and customers,” which suggests a deeper integration of businesses previously run as independent units – see this interview I did last year with Backlight/Wildmoka for some more background on this.
- New data from Hub Entertainment Research sheds additional light on Gen Z’s viewing habits. TV viewing among this cohort of viewers represents only 17% of their total screen time – this figure rises to 43% for 35+ viewers. Moreover, they spend more than twice that time on gaming and non-premium video content (e.g., YouTube) combined.
- Media businesses have continued to focus on interactivity in response to these viewing habits. In one of the latest initiatives, Peacock rolled out a ‘Watch With’ feature that “allows fans to stream and watch special episodes alongside their favorite talent, with real time reactions, live commentary, and unfiltered Q&A.”
- According to recent research conducted by Antenna, only 0.1% of Netflix’s US subscribers moved to its ad-supported tier in November 2022, with only 9% of new signups choosing it over the ad-free option. This data is mostly in line with the modest uptake experienced by HBO Max in June 2021, as noted by Antenna.
- This TVBEurope article is an interesting roundup of views on the outlook for MediaTech in 2023.
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