Ever since the breakout of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the entire world has changed. Some of the things that were considered normal and people did without even thinking about them were no longer possible. Social distancing, quarantines and the ever-present threat of an unknown disease prompted people to retire to the safety of their own homes. Let’s see how Covid-19 is shaping the entertainment industry in 2021.
This brought forth a huge spike in the demand of various entertaining content. The entertainment industry not only had to implement some serious changes but it also significantly boosted content production. So, with that in mind, here’s how Covid-19 is continuing to shape the entertainment industry in 2021.
Events revenue is slowly starting to come back to normal
Last year we had a chance to witness many entertaining events being postponed or even cancelled. With people being so heavily encouraged to practice social distancing – and businesses and organizations expected to further promote this behavior – there was a significant decrease in events revenue. This loss could not only be felt in the businesses that organized the events, but in the media that would have broadcasted them as well. Luckily, some businesses and organizations managed to find a way around this issue. So, last year, we have a chance to witness some audience-free events, as well as live streaming of events on various platforms. Whet’s even better news is that nowadays, things are slowly starting to go back to normal, as we have the opportunity to see some of the social gathering bans being lifted.
More money is being spent online
Another thing we had the opportunity to see and experience last year – that continued to rise this year as well – is a decrease of money being spent in physical locations. Of course, last year it was sometimes nearly impossible to simply go to your local grocery store and obtain all the necessary items. So, the majority of people turned to online shopping. What’s more, the majority of businesses that didn’t previously offer this type of service started doing so as well. Needless to say, this shift in money spending habits couldn’t only be felt in the industries dealing with any type of commerce. Instead, it spread out to various other industries, the entertainment industry included.
The rise of social media platforms
Social media platforms were a huge hit ever since they first made their way onto the market. But ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of daily users only continued to rise. This brought forth the need for various social media platforms to expand their offers. So, we had the chance to see various new for of content being presented to the ever-growing audience. Along the same lines, engaging in social gambling became not only more frequently enjoyed but actually one of the most popular forms of online entertainment. Since this type of gambling doesn’t actually require users to sign up to a particular online casino nor does it require any real money to be spent, it becomes quite clear why it became so popular.
A huge shift in advertising spending
With all the changes happening in seemingly every layer of various industries, another huge one we had the chance to experience revolved around advertising spending. Needless to say, with less people being physically out in the streets, any type of investing in physical advertisement has been pushed to the back burner. However, various businesses started investing more in different types of online promotions. While it may seem like this hasn’t affected the entertainment industry all that much, but the reality is quite different. With less money being spent on offline advertising – and a portion of it invested back in online marketing, various entertainment businesses decided to allocate those funds elsewhere. This resulted in more content, better formats and, of course, more engagement, in general.
The need for ad-free content is changing
There was a time where we had the opportunity to see a greater interest in on-demand, ad-free content, particularly when it comes to various forms of online entertainment. That’s why different streaming platforms were seriously threatening to entirely replace services, such as cable TV. But with the growing number of different streaming platforms came the issue of deciding which platforms to sign up for. Needless to say, while it would be nice to have access to all of them – and thus access to the content they offer – financially it wouldn’t really be affordable to an average person. That’s why we can nowadays see a rise in demand of content that includes paid promotions and ads, as that type of content generally tends to be cheaper to consume.
The big change in some entertainment experiences
Since the entertainment industry is already so closely connected to modern technology, it’s safe to say that these two will only continue to grow alongside each other. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, greater resolutions and the emergence of 5G mobile network will only continue to change the game. The entertainment industry experts should, therefore, continue to work on ways that will allow them to reap all the benefits of these two industries coexisting and corelating so heavily. Better user experiences, more versatile content, easier approach and access to such a content and greater offer, in general, will only continue to further reshape the whole entertainment environment.
These were some of the most obvious ways in which Covid-19 has reshaped and continues to reshape the entertainment industry. With so many new things on the horizon, and various innovations hitting the market on a regular basis, it would be difficult to try and accurately predict the entire future of the entertainment industry. But it’s safe to assume that it will only continue to grow and evolve, much to all of our delight.