In 2017, China is set to overtake the US as the largest consumers of Hollywood studio movies and American television series. With fewer viewers taking the effort to visit movie theaters, the investment in Streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu) has multiplied at a feverish pace.
The United States is expected to see a 15% growth in the streaming service market with estimates showing the total active monthly users to reach 209 million in 2021. The dominant star in the ‘binge-watching’ craze is Netflix, which has already invested $6 billion annually in original content; a trend that has been emulated by rivals Amazon, and even social media companies – Snapchat and Facebook.
Monopoly over distribution has been disrupted in the Entertainment industry with the arrival of Amazon. The customer base for Amazon’s video streaming service will reach 76 million against Netflix’s user base of 120 million at an annual growth of 16.5%. Additionally, Skinny bundling of favorite channels by traditional cable service providers will influence the quality of movies produced for the big screens.
Media giant Disney, which had a good run in 2016, is adapting quickly to changing demographic by investing in virtual reality games, grooming YouTube talents, and acquiring BamTech, the video streaming service, for $1bn, while offering ESPN as a standalone streaming service. Studios are experimenting with video formats in 7 to 10- minute byte sizes while adapting to local content, grabbing the attention of YouTube viewers, who account for one-third of all Internet users.
With fragmented attention, content as a differentiator finds the best return for companies that have analytics to support. Traditional studio’s aversion to integrate analytics has helped Silicon Valley creatively destruct the theater going audience. The predictability of content viewing habit, fine-tuned through AI’s deep learning, helps executives’ green light projects that seem ridiculous to a traditional executive. Single plot lines, eccentric lead characters and the monthly subscriptions that are 40-70% cheaper than traditional cable channels, have encouraged millennials to cut the cord.
For MBAs, the biggest opportunity lies in activities that involve bankrolling small studios, financing projects, acquiring talents and developing a marketing plan for a deeply fragmented audience.
We have covered the latest trends in Aerospace, Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automobile, Clean Tech, Education, Energy, Fashion, Financial Services, Insurance, FinTech, Government, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Military, Manufacturing, Maritime, Media/Advertising, Technology, Tourism, Trade, Transportation and Logistics, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR).
Along with industry analysis, the top 31 MBA programs (class profile, curriculum analysis, total cost and post-MBA Salary) covered in How to Choose the Best MBA in US: The Ultimate Guide will give you unbiased information to choose the best MBA program according to your Goals.
How to Choose the Best MBA in US: The Ultimate Guide
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.