Senior media and entertainment executives believe more technology-savvy managers are critical to the future success of their companies, according to a new study by Ernst & Young.
The study, Fast Forward: Technology Propels Media & Entertainment CEOs into the Future, is based on industry research and interviews with top executives from major global media corporations.
The pace of technology-driven changes in the media and entertainment industry has created enormous strategic challenges and uncertainty for global companies. As a result, executives believe they must bring new talents and skills onto their management teams. Nearly half of the senior executives interviewed cited greater technology and financial skills as critical to media and entertainment business success.
“I need more technology leadership in my team,” one executive is quoted as saying. “We have DVRs, HDTV, and wireless broadband coming at us. We have to figure out how to win on these trends.”
“Content digitization and the introduction of broadband technologies are forcing media and entertainment companies to rethink every aspect of their business, from intellectual property protection to new models for distribution and revenue creation,” reports Steve Barber of Ernst & Young.
The study also concluded that while television broadcasting remains one of the most profitable segments of the media and entertainment industry, executives generally see it as the most challenged to thrive and grow in the future.
New industry-altering technologies are being introduced at an increasingly rapid rate without any slowdown in the consumer adoption. More than any other new technology, digital video recorders were cited by 75 percent of executives participating in the study as an innovation likely to disrupt the status quo of the industry.