• According to the IABM’s data, at-home/remote production is currently the most important technology for the live news sector
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• OTT & Streaming platforms have increasingly become a source of information about the COVID-19 pandemic. This has pushed some linear news channels to launch their own streaming platforms.
   
• Attracting and retaining talent is a major worry for news organizations, especially in technology areas. According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, only one in four news organizations says they are confident about keeping data scientists and technologists compared with three in four for editorial staff.

• COVID-19 has led to a realization of the importance of audio quality, as disruptions hit production standards.
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• The pandemic has incentivized consumers to increasingly stream audio-only content, spurring growth in sectors such as podcasting.
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• From a technology perspective, audio virtualization and remote production deployments have accelerated out of necessity, while other trends such as immersive audio have slowed down.
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• Some audio business drivers, such as the move to easy-to-use products, have also been accelerated by COVID-19
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• Demand from live sectors such as music and theatre has plummeted while other buyers such as streaming, smaller audio content creators and some adjacent markets have increased investment.
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• The audio supply chain has been hit by the pandemic-induced cancellations of events and productions more than it has benefited from new waves of spending from remote working, production, streaming and small audio producers.
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• Some audio technology suppliers have pivoted to cater to the needs of new segments, as well as to accommodate the health and safety requirements of the pandemic in some sectors.

• AI adoption in broadcast and media is accelerating; 21% of respondents say that they have already deployed some sort of AI technology
  
  
• In terms of deployment methods, nearly half of respondents have or plan to leverage cloud service providers' AI capabilities
  
  
• The primary drivers of adoption of AI technology are the opportunity to automate routine workflows and to gain increasing insights into audiences
  
  
• From a Content Chain perspective, end-users are most likely to deploy AI in Manage-related workflows, followed by Produce and Publish
  
  
• Content management is the key area of application for AI, because it helps end-users to automate resource-intensive and expensive activities like metadata tagging
  
  
• More precise AI-based search on content management systems helps end-users to boost monetization
  
  
• AI specialists often offer their tools on the public cloud, because this provides users with flexibility and scalability. Hence, end-users are increasingly leveraging cloud service providers’ functionalities for AI deployment
  
  
• A growing number of end-users have started to explore AI tools related to image recognition/machine vision and Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)

The top-level finding is that cloud adoption has accelerated significantly over the last six months – partly as a result of a continuing trend but noticeably accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown; 45% of respondents have already adopted Cloud compared with 39% a year ago – and the survey data was obtained early in the coronavirus pandemic.

The acceleration of cloud adoption was notable in all segments the BaM Content Chain® - which can also be clearly seen in IABM’s Coronavirus Impact Tracker – with the Manage and Publish segments leading the way with 43% and 39% respectively in a drive for efficiencies which can realize widespread savings throughout the content chain.

Other highlights of the IABM Cloud Adoption Trends report include:

• Tapping of cloud’s potential for improved efficiency in Create and Produce by improving collaboration and decreasing time to market
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• A move towards ‘pay-as-you-go’ solutions in the cloud in Manage for payment flexibility and increased collaboration
  
  
• Growth in hybrid cloud models enabled by cloud providers offering solutions for the transfer of large video files
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• Increased use of AI, which often leverages cloud providers’ capabilities
  
  
• Shift from IaaS to CaaS as the use of containers and microservices grows

• According to IABM data, blockchain adoption in Broadcast and Media is at a very early stage; only 2% of respondents said that they have already deployed some sort of blockchain technology
  
  
• Nearly 50% of respondents are very likely or somewhat likely to adopt blockchain technology. However, another half (50%) remains unlikely to deploy blockchain.

For years, VR has struggled to achieve widespread consumer adoption. The high cost of headsets and lack of content, which is fragmented on a plethora of apps and devices, are among the main reasons for this. So far, most VR applications have focused on live sports.

As a result of this, spending on VR has also been correlated with the occurrence of important live sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup.
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With the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many sporting events around the world have been canceled or postponed, including the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. However, with at least a third of the world's population being under some form of lockdown, the Coronavirus has forced widespread behavioral change among consumers, which will likely translate into new opportunities for VR adoption.