Global media industries are essential to communication in the contemporary world because they facilitate the international community by disseminating information. Nonetheless, it is realized that over time, a rapid technological transformation has impacted all aspects of humanity, including their social and economic daily activities. One of the industries that have been affected significantly is the global media, and the most critical issue they face is the digital transformation being facilitated by technology. It is affecting the industry because there is the need to adapt and conform to the new prospects, which has proved difficult because technological advancement is rapid and sporadic and cannot be predicted, only expected. Digital transformation is a phenomenon that influences the concepts of an increased saturated landscape, soaring consumer expectations, and the decline of audiences in traditional media viewership.
First, the challenge of digital transformation in global media industries is examined to have the perspective of the decline of audiences in traditional media viewership (Broersma., 2019). In the recent past, it was typical for a household to experience the dissemination of information through the television, the radio, or the newspaper when it comes to the consumption of News. For instance, in the United States of America, the written media industries such as the New York Times and The Guardian had a significant audience since there were readers. Because of digital transformation, people no longer rely on written media since they can access information through digital platforms (Kraus et al., 2021), which has caused the need for influential newspapers to adopt online blogs to attract some of their readers. Most contemporary readers depend on softcopy rather than conventional hardcopy print media, making it hard for the global media industries to monetize their services of supplying information (Ayish., 2022). It is a challenge, mainly because the running of the businesses has become more cumbersome as losses are realized instead of profits, with most contemporary readers opting to google important information, which can be accessed easily through laptops or smartphones, which are popular in modern consumerism.
Additionally, the perspective of soaring consumer expectations has been realized through digital transformation (Verhoef et al., 2021), which has challenged the global media industries due to technological advancement. The millennials and the Gen Z consumer market have become hard to satisfy through the traditional programming in the cable network. The consumer expectation has morphed in a manner that there has been a decline in audiences as their needs are not being fulfilled at the time of their want. What has made it even worse is that there are modern concepts such as podcasts that have been facilitated through YouTube, and over time, the content is improved, and their subscribers increase, decreasing the need for traditional programming. More so, the contemporary market is examined to be more concerned with yellow journalism (Gondwe., 2021) because instead of facts, there is a surge in demand for gossip, which does not conform to the ethics that govern Media Corporations. There is an increase in the need for personalized information as the consumer market has been divided based on people’s interests making it a challenge to the global media industries, which depend on an algorithm that facilitates the watershed period. Adult programs cannot be aired during the daytime, and children’s content cannot have viewers in the nighttime (Nyaata., 2022). People are in different time zones but expect to consume their content at their desired time. In the information consumer demography, some people are interested in health, and others in travel, entertainment, and educational content. It has therefore been hard to satisfy the consumer demography because different people want different content simultaneously, irrespective of watershed periods (Nyaata., 2022), making it hard for the global media industries to satisfy the soaring consumer expectation. It has been a challenge in the contemporary world, with most cable networks needing help to fulfill the market’s wants.
Through digital transformation, it is highlighted that there is the realization of a new perspective in the global media industries that have presented the challenge of an increasingly saturated landscape, causing the need for strategic alliances (He et al., 2020). Because of the previous lucrativeness, which presented an avenue for generating revenue, many investors in the media industry migrated. For instance, in the 20th Century, it is examined that the commercial cable networks at the time were the: DuMont Television Network, the CBS Broadcasting Incorporated, and the National Broadcasting Company. Because there was no market saturation, they offered the traditional mechanisms of disseminating information, primarily through the dependence on the television set. In the 21st Century, new vital players such as FOX and FOX News, the CW Television Network, and the Cable News Network (CNN) increased dominance in the new millennium (Nielsen et al., 2022). To conform to the new norm of the 21st Century of the use of technology, most adapted and currently provide the consumer demography with softcopy channels of disseminating information to be read through laptops and smartphones. The “new” corporations offer a different customer experience to rival other information corporations, and the other corporations conform to the advancements, making the market saturated. Therefore, it is realized that with the increase of companies that could provide information through different channels, there was a saturation in the market, making it more difficult for companies to increase their revenue making business more cut-throat.
Hence, digital transformation is the most critical issue that is examined to face the modern global media industries because it facilitates the concepts of an increased saturated landscape, soaring consumer expectations, and the decline of audiences in traditional media viewership. Nonetheless, through an informed critique and the reality of the modern world, no practicable and justifiable solutions can be implemented to curb the challenges as long as the solutions are not adaptable with the increased technological advancement which has radicalized media, information, and its dissemination.
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