What media business model will dominate in the near future? Study says: hybrid

Not only newspapers are now trying to find their place in the digital future. Many media companies - broadcasting, cinema, music, publishing, gaming - are trying to find a new business model.
In a recent study ( PDF ), consulting company Accenture interviewed 120 leading media companies involved in content production, on the subject of the biggest problem that faces them today. Surprisingly, all the bosses pointed to the search for a viable business model. And since this question (in slightly different formulations) has been asked of them for three years already, we can see how the answers have changed.

First, the data directly indicate a clear drop in interest in what Accenture calls pay-per-play. With regard to news, we would call it micropayments (pay per unit of content) or “iTunes model”. In 2007, 23% of respondents thought that it was micropayments that would grow and would become the main source of media revenue in the future. In 2008, the number of those who shared this view fell to 11%. In 2009, there were only 8%.

But Accenture changed the answer choices, which somewhat blurred the picture. In 2009, two new sources were included in the questionnaire: freemium (some content remains free, and the user has to pay for another) and a hybrid scheme (a combination of different sources of income, for example, advertising and subscription). Anyone can see that freemium is a special case of a hybrid scheme, and in the diagram above, Accenture combined “ hybrid ” responses with “ advertisements ”. (60% of the top bar actually means 39% of advertising + 21% of hybrid).
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I spoke with David Wolf from Accenture about what conclusions we should draw from these discoveries. He said the most obvious thing is that in the near future, the most attention will be paid to hybrid business models. “The only thing that becomes clear from the study is that none of the emerging business models will be the only one ,” explained Wolf.

Hand in hand with the hybrid model, there is an aggressive transition to a multiplatform content distribution strategy. “What we found out is that platforms and growth need to be considered together,” explained Wolf. - “How do we make products that will spread to all possible types of screens?” Approximately 65% ​​of respondents said that business will grow due to new platforms and new delivery methods. 25% said that the growth will be due to new content, and only 10% said they are counting on new geographic markets. For three years, these answers have not changed.



Another trend in which the media industry is looking is a more personalized use of data. Instead of considering the audience in general, Wolf predicts that media companies will learn to adapt to the individual needs of consumers. Something like hotel chains attract customers through loyalty programs. In those companies where they used to follow demographic principles of defining an audience in the past, Wolf said that they “change the stereotype” to something more individualized.