Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

A View from the Front Line: How Coronavirus Impacts the Media Industry

31/03/2020

A View from the Front Line: How Coronavirus Impacts the Media Industry By Fergal Ringrose, SVG Europe

Tuesday, March 31, 2020 - 11:41 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

IABM and the DPP collaborated to host an international webcast on Thursday, March 26, responding to the thirst for experience and knowledge regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the media industry.

The event began with IABM CEO Peter White analysing results from its new Coronavirus Impact Tracker. Summarising the early research, White noted that, from a supply chain perspective the area for growth is in connectivity, not surprisingly, with a high demand for bandwidth and connectivity as people move to remote working and remote production.

That which is growing: virtualisation, remote production and the use of AI and machine learning. These are the three areas with key investment in the transition from SDI to IP, said White.

All of these will help the new paradigm shift we're seeing, an irreversible tech move that is going to be accelerated by this [coronavirus] event. The pandemic will have the impact of accelerating these changes.

The cancellation of live events is putting pressure on the sports industry, and a major source of advertising revenue of course in what was a quadrennial year. We're seeing a shift towards solutions that enhance fan engagement as a result.

The cancellation of productions is putting pressure on the post side of the industry and may spur creative innovation and new programming ideas. And obviously there's a hunger for live news currently, even more so than normal, leading to a higher demand for collaborative new solutions such as the use of consumer video technology in the news.

Finally, the surge in demand for on-demand streaming consumption due to our lockdown measures is leading to a pressure on connectivity resources and to Netflix and others cutting streaming quality. Obviously these solutions are good for those providing compression products, noted White.

DPP managing director Mark Harrison

DPP managing director Mark Harrison hosted a discussion among companies in the television and video production space, and wondered what lessons we can start to learn about the impact of coronavirus on the way we work and the nature of work.

Nutopia chief operating officer Helena Tait said, I've long been an advocate of people having the flexibility to work. I dislike presenteeism' intensely.

I also think that with budgets getting tighter and advertising shrinking, especially after this crisis, broadcasters are going to be looking for us to cut our overheads. And we're going to have find sensible ways of working.

We need flexibility in terms of ways of working. It helps somewhat in terms of transport if over the next months we can put into place that we not only work remotely within the same city, for example, but that we can start remote shooting and getting that data back.

Luckily the backbone of our business is pretty much based in the cloud, said Nemorin chief executive officer Pete Ferguson, so we did have contingency plans and do use a lot of online software. But at the same time we did see some productions cancelled. We were right on the brink of shooting in Europe, Mexico and Los Angeles, all back to back for a big client but unfortunately that got pulled.

Some shoots have been postponed, unfortunately, but post production is very much happening, using a mixture of online services and hard drives that are being collected from the office. We sent an email around to our staff about a week before [UK] lockdown, asking them just to be ready to keep working in the event that London was shut down. I remember thinking at the time, gosh that's a scary scenario', but of course it's the new normal now.

Yes we have gone through a real feeling of panic - but also there's a certain feeling of excitement about the future, said Ferguson. I think there's a real spirit of collaboration now.

Obviously we're going to see a sharp dip to the economy in general, but I think once everyone starts to feel healthy again it's going to go the other way very quickly and money will be made available. But people are shocked by this - it has scarred the industry, I believe.

Keith Scholey, co-CEO of Silverback Films said, I think we saw this thing coming in the middle of January. We did make some contingency plans in terms of our shoots and people working from home - but the speed of this thing has been shocking.

I remember the moment when Donald Trump said that Europeans can't go to America. That was the point I thought ah ok, this is all going to happen a lot faster'.

We had crews in Indonesia, Uganda, Hawaii, Australia - all over the place. We had plans to try to keep them going, especially in places where it seemed relatively safe. But it quite quickly became clear that we needed to bring everyone back - and we got them all back in time.

Now the question is: how long does this go on? When does the world open up again? Obviously Donald Trump is promising to open up by Easter - let's watch that one! When can we get back to business and when can we start travelling again?

The reality is, we're probably all going to have to get it at some point. How do we manage that long tail of this disease, and the duty of care? - Keith Scholey

I think the interesting thing about this whole disease is it seems a lot of people can go through without being affected but some are terribly badly affected. What we're going to get into is a process where lots of people have had it, and the lockdowns are going to open up - but you're still going to get it. The reality is, we're probably all going to have to get it at some point. How do we manage that long tail of this disease, and the duty of care? he
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/03/31/a-view-from-the-front-line-how-...
See more stories from svg

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...

24/06/2026

NoiseWorks Audio add Mouth De-Click to VoiceAssist

Plus: VoiceAssist Basic now available to UA LUNA users NoiseWorks Audio have just released an update that adds a new Mouth De-Click module to the Advanced t...

24/06/2026

Gator introduce the Frameworks Studio Mic Boom 2000

New heavy-duty mic stand joins range The latest arrival to Gator's Frameworks family introduces a new heavy-duty boom stand that's been designed for...

24/06/2026

Waves V17 now available

Latest major plug-in update goes live Waves have just announced that the latest major update for their hugely popular plug-in range is now officially availa...

24/06/2026

Why Four Bars of Signal Doesn't Always Mean Good Performance

When assessing cellular coverage, many people look at the signal bars displayed on a smartphone, router or modem. More bars are often assumed to mean better per...

24/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz THORIS sets new standard for counterUAS defense

Rohde & Schwarz THORIS sets new standard for counter UAS defense At Eurosatory 2026, Rohde & Schwarz is unveiling THORIS, a German engineered, sovereign count...

24/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz expands voice communications modernization program for Egyptian air traffic control

Rohde & Schwarz expands voice communications modernization program for Egyptian ...

24/06/2026

Clear-Com FreeSpeak Cell Successfully Tested by RTL Deutschland in 5G Network at...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

24/06/2026

Nielsen's Q1 2026 Ad Supported Gauge

Streaming sets record high of 46.6% of ad supported TV viewing, driven by Super Bowl and Winter Olympics; overall share of ad supported TV remains steady NEW Y...

24/06/2026

FCC Flooded with Nearly 28K Comments Regarding Its Probe of 'The View'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/06/2026

Hearst Television Brings Ad Addressability to Local Broadcast TV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/06/2026

FCC Raises $3.5 Billion in AWS-3 Wireless Auction

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/06/2026

RE:Vision Effects Announces Twixtor Standalone v 8.1 and a Sale!

RE:Vision Effects Announces Twixtor Standalone v 8.1 and a Sale! Brie Clayton June 24, 2026 0 Comments Twixtor v8.1 Standalone adds support for variab...

24/06/2026

Dreamtek Uses Full Blackmagic Workflow for Vercel Next JS Event

Dreamtek Uses Full Blackmagic Workflow for Vercel Next JS Event Brie Clayton June 24, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic cameras, switchers, routers, recorder...

24/06/2026

Chyron LIVE Unveils New Features: Haivision StreamHub Integration, SCTE-35 Ad Insertion, and Refined Switching Tools

Chyron LIVE Unveils New Features: Haivision StreamHub Integration, SCTE-35 Ad In...

24/06/2026

Mapping an Education

Mapping an Education How composer Chloe Clarke Smith navigated her Boston Conservatory experience and brought new meaning to her work June 24, 2026 By Sara...

24/06/2026

The Next Act

The Next Act Dean Krisha Marcano's vision for a connected Theater Division, and the fund making it possible June 24, 2026 Photo by Eric Antoniou The Or...

24/06/2026

Announcing STAGES Magazine 2026

Announcing STAGES Magazine 2026 Marking a decade since Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music joined forces, this issue spotlights some of the groun...

24/06/2026

Rede Legislativa Chooses Appear to Support Brazil TV Ver...

In Brazil's TV 3.0 Trials, Appear's X5 is transporting live signals from Bras lia to S o Paulo over the public internet using secure, reliable next-gene...

24/06/2026

Mediaproxy partners with HVS for US broadcast market

Melbourne, Australia - 24 June 2026: Mediaproxy, the global standard for software-based IP compliance monitoring and multiviewing solutions, has named Heartland...

24/06/2026

Gray Media Launches Political 360 Digital Advertising Solution

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/06/2026

Walmart to Pay $1.4 Billion to Acquire Ad Tech Firm Vibe.co

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/06/2026

FCC Flooded with Nearly 28K Comments on 'The View'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/06/2026

First Rush Brings SDI Multicam ProRes Recording to Apple Silicon Macs

First Rush Brings SDI Multicam ProRes Recording to Apple Silicon Macs Brie Clayton June 23, 2026 0 Comments First Rush is a native macOS application d...

24/06/2026

Vertical Drama Beneath Crimson Sails Created with Blackmagic Design

Vertical Drama Beneath Crimson Sails Created with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 23, 2026 0 Comments Thunder Child Productions relies on cameras&...

24/06/2026

X-Rite Pantone Adds MSI PRO MAX Displays to Pantone Validated Program for Proven Color Fidelity for Real World Colors

X-Rite Pantone Adds MSI PRO MAX Displays to Pantone Validated Program for Proven...

24/06/2026

Dara Briain forms Dara's Dull Appreciation Society for U

24th June 2026, London: Dara Briain will host brand new comedy entertainment series Dara's Dull Appreciation Society (4x40') celebrating members of th...

24/06/2026

Sky reveals wild new trailer and images for Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

Wednesday 24 June 2026 Sky reveals wild new trailer and images for Shaun the Sh...

24/06/2026

Seven paradoxes shaping the next era of media production - Episode 1

Why Dynamic Media Facilities Matter In this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operations. Along ...

24/06/2026

Comscore Announces Partnership with Amazon DSP to Expand Content Addressability to Drive Campaign Performance

Comscore Announces Partnership with Amazon DSP to Expand Content Addressability ...

24/06/2026

RT is supporting 21 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this July

From Cork to Limerick to Earagail: RT is supporting 21 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this July RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to spotlight...

23/06/2026

Case Study: YES Networks IP Transition Expands Production Possibilities and Redefines Workflows

When we began planning our transition from an SDI-based infrastructure to a new ...

23/06/2026

Imagine Communications Appoints Greg Garmon as SVP, Americas Video Sales

Imagine Communications has announced the appointment of Greg Garmon as Senior Vice President, Americas Video Sales. Garmon will oversee account growth and busin...

23/06/2026

Snap Promotes Emma Wakely to Head of Sports and Media Partnerships, Americas

Snap has promoted Emma Wakely to Head of Sports and Media Partnerships, Americas, succeeding Anmol Malhotra, who has been elevated to Global Head of Content and...

23/06/2026

YES Network and Gotham Sports App to Air MI New York Major League Cricket Matches

YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air MI New York's Major League Cr...

23/06/2026

HAND Issues Persistent Digital IDs to 2026 NBA Draft Class

The Universal Talent Identifier (HAND) has issued HAND IDs to 34 top projected prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft class, including AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and...

23/06/2026

World Boxing Launches World Boxing TV Streaming Platform

World Boxing has announced the launch of World Boxing TV, a subscription-based streaming platform built on the Joymo platform, offering live events, on-demand c...

23/06/2026

FloRacing to Stream 32 Off-Road Motorcycle Racing Events Including AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship

FloSports will stream 32 off-road motorcycle racing events on FloRacing, includi...

23/06/2026

SES Adds 14 Regional Channels and New Set-Top Boxes to ASTRA TV in Spain

SES has announced the expansion of its ASTRA TV platform in Spain with the addition of 14 regional channels in HD and UHD quality and the launch of new hybrid s...

23/06/2026

Appear Supports Rede Legislativas Contribution Workflow for Brazils TV 3.0 Trials

Appear ASA has announced its role in Rede Legislativa de R dio e TV's contri...

23/06/2026

PBS Selects LTN for Nationwide IP Video Network Across 330 Member Stations

LTN has announced that PBS has selected it as its IP video partner to modernize content distribution and contribution across more than 330 public television sta...

23/06/2026

Ease Live Powers Interactive Experience on Rally.TV for WRC

Ease Live has announced that its graphics overlay platform is powering an interactive fan experience on Rally.TV, the official streaming platform of the FIA Wor...

23/06/2026

Chyron LIVE Adds Haivision StreamHub Integration, SCTE-35 Ad Insertion, and Switcher Updates

Chyron has announced updates to Chyron LIVE, its cloud-native live production pl...

23/06/2026

ESPN Announces ESPN Fan House, Fan Engagement Hub Powered by Flowcode

ESPN has announced ESPN Fan House, a fan engagement hub powered by Flowcode, launching in August ahead of the 2026 college football season. Publicis Sports will...

23/06/2026

Sennheiser Relocates Americas Regional Hub to Nashville

The city's solid position in broadcast, entertainment, and sports attracted the major microphone manufacturer Sennheiser Group is moving its Americas Regio...

23/06/2026

Violet Audio's dMix 128 now shipping

128 channels of signal routing & DSP Announced just before the NAMM Show 2026, Violet Audio's latest digital audio matrix offers 128 channels of signal ...

23/06/2026

Minimal Audio launch Memory Rites

Latest Current expansion created by EPROM Minimal Audio have just launched the latest Current Expansion, Memory Rites. Designed in collaboration with renown...