Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Variety Entertainment Summit: A Look into the Global Innovation and Tech Landscape

22/01/2021

As we welcome 2021 with open arms and leave 2020 behind us, we all felt a bit of a void not welcoming the new year with our annual trip to Vegas for CES. Fortunately, despite its virtual presence, this year's event did not disappoint. In fact, it was an impressive feat with attendees and participants alike, absorbing the innovation, knowledge and trends that will shape the technology world in the coming years from the comfort - and safety - of their homes.

One of the key highlights was the 2021 Variety Entertainment Summit: A CES Partner Program, where Andr Kudelski, Chairman & CEO of the Kudelski Group, was a featured speaker during two popular sessions. The first was a one-on-one interview with Variety NY Digital Editor, Todd Spangler titled, Key Technology and Innovation Trends . He then joined the Tech Heroes of the Pandemic panel moderated by Variety Artisans Editor, Jazz Tangcay.

In line with the current events of the world, both sessions explored how the M&E market, as well as communities, businesses and individuals everywhere, have been fundamentally transformed by the COVID crisis. Attendees gained a unique perspective on Mr. Kudelski's knowledge and holistic vision of the global innovation and technology landscape. If you were not able to attend the virtual event, here are the key takeaways:

Tech Trends to Watch in 2021:

According to Mr. Kudleksi, the main technology and innovation trends to look out for in 2021 include cloudification, telecommunications and security. Variety's Hanna Hensler's recent article, Kudelski Group CEO Andr Kudelski on the Top Technology Trends to Look Out for in 2021, includes important takeaways, as well as access to the one-on-one interview that took place during the event.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancements also ranked high on the list of trends to watch. This includes AI as it applies to helping people adapt faster in their current environments. AI should not be looked at as a standalone technology, but rather a way to enhance the way people work and react faster and better to get things done.

Taking a closer look at security threats, the need for content protection is on the rise because pirates are taking advantage of the disruption in the world combined with an increased demand for content from consumers. This is not isolated to media content; the same trend applies to consumer data. Taking the correct steps with the right technologies can help address this issue. Moving forward we will see that the need to protect data and content will be more important than ever before.

Acceleration of Digitalization: A Fundamental Change in How We Move Forward

For years, businesses have been looking for ways to accelerate digitalization. However, massive strides were not made until a number of actors, companies, individuals and societies were essentially forced to make the leap to digital. Until now, there was never a strong enough reason to stop, disrupt business, and restructure the way we do business. This global crisis forced people out of their comfort zone to take the necessary, calculated risks to keep business going while implementing new and innovative ways to work.

The only way to survive in such a disruptive time is to adapt, to adapt quickly and to change the engrained behavior that has been embraced for decades. Fortunately, many have found innovative ways - fairly quickly - to adapt. This is the key in today's digitation acceleration, with initiatives that took years are now taking months. It is a radical shift.

Optimizing Collaboration - Making Connections in a Digitized World

Not a single company or even a single government can do everything by themselves. This is why collaboration is so important. With the current landscape, it is more challenging to collaborate effectively as face-to-face meetings are limited. Tech innovations are trying to fill the void, but there are a number of important meetings that are simply not effective in a remote environment. Face-to-face interaction is essential. Moving forward, there must be investments in ways to make true collaboration possible with a balanced approach that includes the right technologies, combined with in-person experiences when necessary.

Activating Immersive Entertainment Experiences

In the M&E world, there is a chemistry when people come together. This not only applies to the professional side of business, with innovations such as remote working and remote production, but also in the relationships between people when you deliver an ultimate entertainment experience. Unfortunately, this chemistry has been limited with the pandemic. Now, there is a real opportunity to interconnect fans and viewers to enjoy something together by using technology to reproduce a sense of community. Once pandemic is over, this will morph into a hybrid solution between the two - both in-person and digital experiences. Consuming content for entertainment purposes will no longer be a passive experience.

What's Next:

If there is one thing we have realized over the past year, it is that we are not able to choose the downside of a crisis. However, it's important to note that in every crisis there can be immense opportunity and when reach the bottom, there is only one way to go and that is up. By taking a look at the current tech and media landscape, we can see that there is so much opportunity to be had when digital transformation technologies and people are in sync and the desire to evolve is embraced.

Contact us to learn how NAGRA can help M&E companies innovate in todays digitized world.
LINK: https://dtv.nagra.com/variety-entertainment-summit-look-global-innovat...
See more stories from nagra

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/07/2026

Broadcast Management Group Appoints Kathy Samuels as Director of Creative Services

Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...

01/07/2026

Shade Launches Custom Objects and Automations

Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...

01/07/2026

FOR-A America Adds Two Regional Sales Leaders

FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...

01/07/2026

NBC Sports To Present All 15 MLB Games Nationally on July 4 Weekend Star-Spangled Sunday'

NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...

01/07/2026

Clear-Com Upgrades Wireless Communications for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune

Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...

01/07/2026

England Deploys Sony STATSports Live GPS Tracking at FIFA World Cup 2026

England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...

01/07/2026

Adder Technology Appoints Neil Hillier as CEO

Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...

01/07/2026

Bitcentral Splits Into Two Companies: Bitcentral and ViewNexa

Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...

01/07/2026

DAZN48 Creator Initiative Draws Global Participation for FIFA World Cup 2026

DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...

01/07/2026

IDEA To Induct Daktronics Sarah Rose Into Hall of Fame

Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...

01/07/2026

Gravity Media Delivers Distribution and Streaming Services for World Economic Forum in Dalian

Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...

01/07/2026

Insight Productions Launches Insight Storm, a 53-Foot Esports Broadcast Truck

Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...

01/07/2026

ESPN Announces America 250 Content Initiatives Across Platforms

ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...

01/07/2026

At Cosm, FIFA World Cup 2026 Is a Coming-of-Age Moment as Shared Reality Becomes Bucket-List Entertainment

Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...

01/07/2026

SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Draws Industry Leaders to Denver for Deep Dive on Evolving RSN Landscape

The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...

01/07/2026

Mountain West Launches MW+ Streaming Platform Powered by Kiswe

The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...

01/07/2026

Tracktion unleash Waveform 14 DAW

New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...

01/07/2026

The Crow Hill Company release Brackish Pads

Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...

01/07/2026

Sweetwater & Andertons launch Darkglass Anagram Limited Edition Guitar Essentials

Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals Sweetwater and Andertons M...

01/07/2026

Call for NFVF funding applications to attend Film Festivals and Markets taking place from 01 August 2026 - 31 October 2026

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...

01/07/2026

FCC Plans to Auction 160 MHZ of Midband Spectrum

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

CBS Miami Launches Hope 4 Venezuela' Relief Effort

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

Riedel, SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive Integration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

Gray Media to Buy American Spirit Media's TV Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

Cascade PBS Launches App Solution Provider 'Local Public

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camerabag collection for modern hybrid creators

Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...

01/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition

Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition Brie Clayton July 1, 2026 0 Comments Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...

01/07/2026

Riedel, SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration WithSimplyLive Integration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

PlayBox Technology Publishes State of Broadcast Infrastru...

PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...

01/07/2026

Jigsaw24 Appoints Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media a...

LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...

01/07/2026

Content Vault Partner with XMA to Distribute Universal Fi...

Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...

01/07/2026

Bitcentral Announces Strategic Evolution to Create Two F...

Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...

01/07/2026

Adder Technology Names Neil Hillier as CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

IBCAP Opens New Anti-Piracy Lab in Denver

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

FCC Plans to Auction 160 MHZ of Mid-Band Spectrum

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

CBS Miami Launches 'Hope 4 Venezuela' Relief Effort

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/07/2026

Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through national partnership

Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...

01/07/2026

Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Experience for Live Broadcast Production

Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...

01/07/2026

Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive

Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...

01/07/2026

Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinity Photo

Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...

01/07/2026

UKTV appoints Matt Berry as General Manager to lead brand and marketing strategy

UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July. Matt will take on this senio...

01/07/2026

Fussy asks Britain one simple question: Are you a Tosser?

Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026 Fussy asks Bri...

01/07/2026

New Sky research reveals postcode lottery leaving girls behind in sport

Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...

01/07/2026

Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive Integration

Wuppertal July 1, 2026 Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...

01/07/2026

Apple Creator Studio gets smarter, faster, and more connected - UPDATE - Posted on 30 June 2026

Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...