What This Means for the Entertainment Industry
That depends on what side of the entertainment industry you’re talking about. When it comes to streaming entertainment services like Netflix (NFLX) and Roku (ROKU), the industry is doing great. These companies are benefiting as consumers look for better at-home entertainment options.
On the other hand, external sources of entertainment like movie theaters, theme parks, and cruise lines are struggling immensely. Regal Cinemas announced that it’s closing nearly 600 movie theaters across the United States. AMC Entertainment (AMC) responded by saying that it has no plans of closing its theaters down. Nonetheless, a quick look at the company’s stock price shows just how bad things have gotten for movie theaters and other sources of entertainment outside of the home.
As a result, leaders in the entertainment industry are being forced to get creative, and some interesting moves have taken place. Universal Corp (UVV) made history when it debuted its smash-hit film, Trolls World Tour, online, giving consumers access to the film on a pay-per-view basis through streaming services.
What This Means for the Consumer
For consumers, COVID-19-related evolution in entertainment is a mixed bag of pros and cons. There’s no question that having to stay home is a change that takes some getting used to. At the same time, many television shows and movies have seen delayed production, meaning that they take longer to make it to your screen. However, there are some good things that have come of this:
- Consumer-Focused Innovation. Entertainment producers are having to be more creative in order to profit from the content they’re producing. Even with Trolls World Tour debuting online, Universal only produced about $26 million in revenue. That’s a tiny fraction of the $346.9 million the company generated from the release of Trolls in 2016. With money being harder to come by in the industry, producers and content providers are focusing on simplicity of access, and lower cost access to get the masses back into the works they’re producing. That ultimately means a better user experience for you.
- Better Technology. Technology companies involved in the development and manufacturing of entertainment systems are seeing an opportunity. With the masses staying home, now is a better time than ever to introduce new, innovative concepts such as WiSA sound solutions, higher definition televisions, and high-tech gaming systems. Both Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNY) have decided to launch state of the art gaming systems this year. Not to mention the fact that LG has launched WiSA Ready 4K and 8K OLED televisions that seamlessly work with WiSA USB audio transmitters to become the center of your home cinema.
WiSA Provides the Missing Piece to the Puzzle
As the entertainment landscape continues to evolve, consumers have enjoyed higher definition screens and easier access to content. However, one thing missing for a true immersive experience, for most, is quality sound. At the moment, there are three major issues with immersive sound at home:
- Setup. Traditional immersive sound systems are very difficult to set up. Oftentimes, experts are hired to take care of the setup, which comes with an extra cost. For those that aren’t willing to pay an expert hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and decide to take care of the setup for themselves, speaker positions and wire visibility are common problems.
- Cost. Another issue with traditional, high quality surround sound systems is cost. It’s common that consumers spend thousands of dollars in order to bring theater like sound into their homes, making quality sound inaccessible for the masses.
- Quality. In an effort to bring costs and complexity down and generate mass market appeal, soundbars and bluetooth setups have been introduced to the market, but these come with their own issues. Soundbars are one-directional and simply cannot provide a real, immersive sound experience. Bluetooth options only have 2 channels, and only one of these channels is used for audio. Not to mention, latency is often a major issue experienced with bluetooth speakers.
That’s where WiSA comes in.
More than 60 brands including LG, Xbox, Klipsch, Harman, Enclave Audio, and others have joined the WiSA Association, developing WiSA Ready televisions and gaming systems as well as WiSA Certified sound systems.
With WiSA, all three of the main issues mentioned above are solved:
- Setup. WiSA Ready and Certified products provide access to true, multi-channel immersive sound with setup only taking minutes. There are no wires to deal with. Simply plug the speakers in, connect wirelessly, and enjoy theater-quality sound.
- Cost. WiSA has partnered with members of the entertainment industry on all ranges of the spectrum, providing quality surround systems for hundreds, rather than thousands of dollars.
- Quality. WiSA Ready devices and WiSA Certified speakers are thoroughly vetted to ensure that when the WiSA brand appears, it is synonymous with excellence.
Stay Safe, Stay Home, Stay Entertained
The COVID-19 pandemic will pass, it’s only a matter of time. In the meantime, please take necessary measures to stay safe, but while you do so, don’t accept sub-par entertainment! Enjoy the incredible innovation taking place as the entertainment landscape evolves, not just here at WiSA, but industry wide!
