Trends Report – 2013 Mid-Year Update

In January 2013, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) delivered a Keytrends report entitled “Are We Ready for Generation S?”. The goal of that document was two-fold:

• to provide the Board of Directors of the CMF with an overview of the key transformational trends and market developments that are impacting the television and digital media sectors;
• to identify potential strategic orientations for consideration by the Board of Directors in terms of the Fund’s response to the changing environment, aimed at maximizing the Fund’s impact.

Six key trends

The report presented 6 strategic trends transforming the TV and digital media industry:

1. Always on: As we enter the age of constant connectivity, making content available on all platforms remains a priority (i.e. hyperdistribution).
2. Screen convergence: How the new ways audiences consume and engage with content requires stakeholders to rethink their content design and distribution strategies.
3. Transmedia: How TV remains strong in terms of audiovisual consumption and how it is in a unique position to influence other media sectors through cross-sector collaborations.
4. The power of many: The audience as active participant in financing, production and distribution of content projects.
5. Monetization: Digital revenue generation is reaching viability through a growing apps economy and new Internet players are investing more and more money in original digital content.
6. The Big & the Agile: The polarization of the content and funding ecosystems between giant TV and Internet players and smaller, nichier and innovative start-ups is creating a new ecosystem.