JUNE 1, 2020
BY JAMES BENNETT
It’s not just movie studios that are working hard to find a ‘new normal’ right now. Free to air TV should be reaping the rewards of everyone staying at home, looking for entertainment, yet they haven’t like you’d expect.
There have been some success stories, Lego Masters and Masterchef are both doing well, thanks to both of them being shown across multiple days, and family focused. Beyond those though, it’s not been great for the networks and free to air TV is also suffering from the same production delays that the movie studios are.
This is even more exaggerated when it comes to Foxtel. Foxtel are highly reliant on live sport, and right now there isn’t much of it. Even their sports streaming service Kayo, which was a great success story is suffering because of the lack of content.
So you’d think that streaming services are sitting pretty right now with a captive audience, but everything isn’t as it seems here either. People are finding that there isn’t as much on streaming services as they’d like to watch, so they are quickly exhausting their watch lists. Remember, these services are subject to the same production delays as everyone else and they will suffer from a lack of upcoming product like all the rest. As more households suffer financial pressure, they’ll be looking at saving money and one of the easiest ways to do so is to cancel Foxtel and a few streaming services that they’re not using.
While we are sure you may find that interesting, the bottom line is: how will that impact on you moving forward?
Well, combine all of the above with a significant shift in consumer thinking, from global to local and a real focus on consumers being more community minded in their actions and this is where Libraries fit in. The desire to support local combined with shrinking disposable incomes will see many in your community turn from indiscriminate overseas/online consumers to local library patrons.
There will be many people in your local community who know about the range of entertainment options you have for them, but there will be just as many who think of their local library as somewhere to only get books. Here exists the perfect opportunity to demonstrate your relevance; you simply need make sure you have the right product, and enough of it available to meet demand.
And if you need advice or help James Bennett are always here to help.
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James Bennett
Unit 3, 114 Old Pittwater Road
Brookvale NSW 2100, Australia
P: +61 2 8988 5000