Technology's longrun effect

The Warner Bros, Netflix and Paramount merger is still being hashed out - makes sense given the stakes and the size of the firms in question. I am sure the Department of Justice have their work cut out for them.

However, the merger has ignited a bigger-picture type debate about the movie industry overall, specifically the role of cinemas/ movie theatres and creatives. It should be unsurprising that the availability of affordable tech for consumers, has reduced the demand for cinemas over time. In fact, affordability has increased so much such that individuals are able to replicate the movie going experience in their own homes. I am not saying we should be angry about technology - it was always going to create a disruption at a certain point. As technology develops in other areas e.g. for defense, eventually people would find a way to incorporate that new technology for consumer use in an accessible way. How the movie industry maintained a way to keep in-person theatres relevant, was to create a time gap between box office screenings and making new movies available for personal purchase. Firms, such as Netflix, changed that process. Moreover, the pandemic also altered people's behaviours, by forcing them to get used to avoiding locations for large gatherings such as cinemas, which in turn resulted in movie theatres closing down.

Again, even if generic in-person cinema-like experiences can be replicated individually, there are still a couple of movie going experiences which cannot be replicated as of now. It might mean the relevance of a normal neighbourhood cinema is reduced, but my prediction is physical movie threatres won't be wiped out, even by the Netflixes of the world. The people who grew up on in-person cinemas, understand how different they feel to watching movies in a living room; when Gen Z finally get around to doing old people things, they will come to realise the differentiation. For example, a recent news channel covered a story about a Gen Z kid that re-discovered vintage cars (I mean what even us millennials would classify as vintage), and miniature models of vintage cars. He then proceeded to use modern technology, to share his enthusiasm for said vintage cars. Or how in the fashion world, Gen Z are re-discovering what we used to buy in the 90s (horrifyingly or not).

As for the creatives, as done in the past, they will have to pivot and innovate around new tastes and demand, of course with the added stress of AI (which we are all having to contend with - it isn't only a movie industry issue). As I said above, technological breakthroughs are always eventually going to shake things up for us little folk; society needs to learn how to effectively break/tame the wild horse.