Variety’s Winter Entertainment Summit to Discuss Industry’s Diverse Streaming Needs, Pandemic Impact and Generational Approaches

variety.com:

Karen Idelson After a pivot from an in-person event at CES due to the omicron surge, Variety’s virtual Winter Entertainment Summit will start streaming Jan.

27.Many of the panelists have their eyes on what will be next for their businesses and how to capture and engage consumers.Variety co-editor-in-chief Cyn-thia Littleton will host panel Best Way Forward: Future of the Entertainment Industry, which features Shalini Govil-Pai, GM & VP of Google TV, and Farhad Massoudi, founder and CEO of Tubi, among others.

These two sense the urgency to meet the needs of audiences who are now streaming savvy after months at home.“For our users, access to a variety of content that is diverse and easily discoverable is more essential than ever,” says Govil-Pai. “With more time being spent at home, we’ve seen a rise in TV usage overall, both for streaming traditional media as well as for non-traditional use cases like for fitness and communications.

Making sure there’s access to the experiences that our users need will be incredibly important.” Massoudi looks at post-pandemic audience behavior in a slightly different way:  “AVOD has been on a steady trajectory over the past few years that will only continue to rise rapidly over the next 12 months, as consumers realize they don’t need to pay to watch quality content, and as they become more selective with the services they subscribe to.