The spread of the Covid-19 virus has raised serious questions as to how any of the businesses will run considering the lockdown imposed for good. These operators have to use different methods of working and innovative ways of promoting and sustaining themselves. Every aspect of the society has been hit hard and media is no different. Starting from television, print, radio, internet, film and mobile have affected in some way or the other.
The lockdown has resulted in lower to almost no distribution of printed copies of newspapers. Their profits are declining in huge numbers. UK’s national newspapers are experiencing a slump of as much as 39% due to the shutting down of high streets and all its employees being kept at home. There were no reporters or people at the printing presses. The circulation of The Financial Times and the i newspaper were reported to be declining the most, down 39% and 38%, respectively. The newspaper incurred excessive loss due to the bulk of distribution of free copies at locations like airports, railway stations and gyms. So, they had to get rid of this to stop any further declination. But some national newspapers were able to get back up in the game as they began paid home delivery of the newspaper so as to save themselves from any more financial backlash.
Radio may as well be positively affected by corona. It needs lesser manpower to read news and spread word through radio broadcasts which not true in case of television. In spite of the lockdown, radio being more accessible has paved the way for positive utility of stations.
The worldwide pandemic inflicted by coronavirus is affecting the fields of photography and imagiing industry in numerous ways. Professional photographers have been facing various canceled sessions over weeks and now months. Postponement of events of international importance like the and the Olympics has added to the sorrow of the freelancers as well as company-based individuals. Cancellation of major trade shows like Photokina and NAB have affected the livelihood of photographers to a great extent. Newer models of cameras and tools for videography have been delayed as the lockdown has forced factories to shut down. Important camera companies like Canon and Fujifilm have begun to develop medical supplies. They hope this would help offset revenue losses. This industry is facing yet another setback due to the lockdown which was already facing adversities because of the highly capable phone cameras.
Television too has been broadly impacted by the lockdown. Channels like BBC, ITV, etc., have been thinking of different methods of production and not cancel shows that do not include a huge team. Events like Olympics and Paralympics have also been postponed resulting in the backlashes sports channels. BBC is therefore, into talks regarding insurance arrangements on its TV rights. The DTH services will also be affected as Star has already delayed the launch of 5 channels, hence, impacting their revenue.
Mobile apps have become the new and only favourites of all in the time of quarantine. A research reveals that China and Italy were most active on their phones (more than the usual) during this time. On January 2020 the lockdown was first imposed on China and in February it was concluded that on contrary of 2019 results, time spent on the phone had increased up to 30 percent which is 5 hours jump per day. In Italy as well, a similar occurrence took place. It had the second highest jump of 11 percent. Educational sites such as ZOOM cloud meetings had found their place in every mobile due to a stranded process of going to school. Business and insurance apps too found themselves on the as stock market and banks had almost shut down.
South Korea was an early contractor of coronavirus. Therefore, since 23rd of February 2020, there was a hike of 35 percent compared to 2019 in terms of the average weekly game downloads. When compared to the month of January 2020, the hike was measured up to 25 percent.
Various forms of media have fallen victim to the pandemic yet some have immensely benefitted from it. This is a testing time when every company has the opportunity of challenging itself and pushing its borders to the fields that they had seldom imagined would be required.
BLOGBLOG 