The media industry is evolving at an exceptional level, and with increased usage of smartphones and digital media, a number of consumers are getting connected to a new entertainment world enabled by disruptive technologies. Extended reach means more data which implies towards employment of big data technology to gain better insights into services provided. Big data analytics helps the media and entertainment industry to aid businesses gain hidden insights into customer behavior and facilitates the delivery of personalized content through analytical tools and techniques.

What is the current landscape of big data analytics and the Media industry?

Today, big data analytics helps the industry players predict audience interest, provide insights into their viewer-activity and optimize the scheduling of media streams.

As the platforms for delivering media content have increased in choices (live streaming, online streaming, pay per view and others), the amount of data generated has increased at a great level. Such data offer details understanding of the behavior and preferences of customers. For example, Netflix uses analytical data to predict and personalize the type of content user would like to watch next.

As aforementioned, the choices have increased with the evolution of technology which can also cause the risk of customer attrition (customer churn) threatening businesses across the industry. However, analytics helps in bringing together all the user data from multiple sources, including social media and make sensible insight from that. The advents of big data analytics have enabled businesses to discover the reasons that drive customers to subscribe and unsubscribe any particular channel or platform. Using such information, the industry-players can customize content pricing, media content and even delivery modes to reduce the attrition rate.

Envisioning futuristic frontier of the media industry through analytics

It has been predicted that with the introduction of 5G technology, the opportunities for data speeds will improve. This will contribute to significant growth in mobile media experiences and extension to significant opportunities for augmented experiences.

An increase in data points will also generate new practices and innovative opportunities to mine and analyze them for better quality and discovery of content.

Enlightening about expected digital transformation in distribution patterns, Nelson Granados in his article in Forbes said that, "it is no secret that the distribution of content is happening increasingly in digital format. PWC's 2019 Global Media and Entertainment Outlook shows the trend very clearly. That means that massive amounts of data on consumer clicks and viewership behavior are increasingly hitting the servers of TV, film, music, gaming, and book companies, among others."

According to Nelson, content creators expect to see a return from all of these innovations. Therefore, they will extensively use big data to better monetize content. On the other hand, customers should expect new forms of entertainment modes and methods. However, they can also expect that their viewership and click data will be mined for content production and to feed automated, personalized content recommendations in streaming services and social media platforms.

Owing to the improvements and advancements in the big data and analytics industry, we can expect better prospects of entertainment. It is also expected that the rise in technologies will also mitigate the risks associated with consumer privacy and data transparency.