Pandemic, Media Content Industry & MILC Platform

5 min readJul 29, 2021

The outbreak of coronavirus in 2020 has significantly impacted all industries; with music and entertainment being no exception. With the implementation of lockdowns as a way of containing the spread of the virus, public gatherings have been prohibited and theatres, cinemas, music festivals and concerts have been cancelled indefinitely. The Film industry was hit almost immediately as movie theatres across the Globe were closed and major releases were delayed. Even after the lockdowns are lifted, the call for social distancing has become a norm and the ripple effects will have serious implications for the people in the media and entertainment industry.

Let’s take a look at how the pandemic affected the various sectors of the Media Content Industry.

Television :

This lockdown has created a spike in viewership as the restrictions on the movement of people during the pandemic have resulted in a lot of consumers across the world streaming entertainment more and more.

Despite the increase in viewership, there has been a decline in Ad revenues. The shutting down or delaying production of television programs in many countries had consequent negative impacts on revenues (through rights and advertising sales) and employment.

The pandemic had delayed at least 60% of scripted television programming worldwide, including at least half of the programming originally scheduled to air in the second half of 2020.

Broadcasters had to move towards non-scripted shows, as the production of scripted shows was suspended/delayed because of pandemic. The majority of the television shows are now either being created at remote places, or repeat telecasts are being aired.

2. Digital and OTT Platforms :

The convenience and customisation provided by OTT platforms gives it an edge over the conventional Media. The over-the-top (OTT) platform saw an immense boom, and it became a major source of entertainment for viewers. As a result, it created a reallocation of ad revenues from traditional media ( television, print, etc ).

The BBC noted that the popularity of streaming services could increase, especially if more people are isolated at home, with The Guardian suggesting that non-blockbuster films may be sent to streaming more quickly than anticipated after release, to catch this booming market and audience.

3. Print Media :

The lockdown led to a huge decline in Ad revenue and curtailed circulation for the print industry.

The distribution of newspapers were heavily affected in all parts of the world, and many regional print media agencies had to completely stop their production temporarily.

All of the print industries worldwide are going for cost cutting measures to survive in these tough times. While many agencies are reducing pages in their newspaper, some are reducing their employees/Journalists and also are moving towards online publications and building their presence in the digital industry.

Some of these measures might be adopted for the longer term, as companies are finding them sustainable and efficient.

4. Film Industry :

The Film Industry was the one which was the most severely affected because of the recent pandemic. Theaters all over the world were closed down from the beginning to adhere to the new the social distancing norms.

In early March 2020, it was predicted that the global box office could lose US$5 billion as a result of the pandemic.

The Chinese film industry lost US$2 billion by March 2020, having closed all its cinemas during the Lunar New Year period that sustains the industry across Asia. North America saw its lowest box office weekend since 1998 in March. Cineworld, the world’s second-largest cinema chain, closed its cinemas in October 2020.

This closure of theaters moved the viewers to other alternatives, mostly OTT services.

All above mentioned platforms suffer from a lack of content in the pipeline and that is extremely dangerous for content producers who need to keep a grasp on viewer’s interest and attention.

Other platforms which saw a rise in content are those where community is involved and can contribute, for example Youtube, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms.

While production companies may not be able to film, people will be able to shoot small videos in their homes.

MILC Platform & its Advantages

[The increasing demand for content among consumers and publishers, caused by global lockdowns and social distancing, and the simultaneous scarcity of content among distributors, is paving the way for new forms of distribution such as the MILC Platform.]
The Platform will be a one-stop platform for every Publisher (and Viewer) in the near future and will be a place where all content can be easily uploaded, as the complicated licensing process is eliminated. This means that old/classic movies will be back with their purchase/broadcasting rights on the platform, and other creators/producers will be able to easily use them in the format they seem fit.

This will be possible because the MILC Platform will provide standardized licensing templates to publishers, which makes the hectic licensing process super-easy and saves a lot of time, money and effort of both parties involved.

This way a sea of content will be opened and available for the publishers, as every content creator will be able to put his content for sale/reuse easily. There is an immense unutilised content treasury available all over the world which is left unused because of the hectic and expensive production/distribution process, which through MILC will get a digital platform to get uploaded and bought/sold, generating income for the creator.

MILC Platform will be a saviour for the media industry, especially in situations like the current pandemic. They can easily buy the content they prefer directly from the MILC platform, and use it in the manner they desire. This means they will never go short on the content side.

All streaming platforms, TV networks and VOD providers will get tons of content at their fingertip, readily available for use — without the need for expensive intermediaries or complex legal processes.

On top of this, MILC platform will also work as a “Content launchpad”, where content creators will provide Demo/Trailers of their content and will get funded based on that.

This can give high quality content creators a career jumpstart, and more content for other broadcasting platforms to use easily.

MILC Platform will go live by Q3 of this year, and is built and backed by Welt der Wunder TV, a well-established TV Station and media industry brand in the DACH region.

For more details about MILC Platform, please check out our Website: MILC — Media Industry Licensing Content

MILC Platform: “Tokenizing” the Media Industry

References:

Media and Entertainment sector in the era of COVID-19 — KPMG India (home.kpmg)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_on_cinema

https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/coronavirus-tv-industry-proposals.html

Media and Entertainment sector in the era of COVID-19 — KPMG India (home.kpmg)

ABOUT MILC

MILC platform aims to provide the industry with an open new marketplace for every professional and non-professional content provider and buyer that incorporates cutting-edge broadcast, blockchain and AI-technology which can become a game changer for the entire media content industry. It solves four fundamentally important challenges of the global media industry: Global availability, Discovery process for Buyers, Complex licensing and Early feedback from viewers. MILC has been developed by Welt der Wunder, a media brand with 25 years experience in the business.

More details on MILC: