The pandemic and the entertainment industry

There has been an unprecedented health crisis involving COVID-19. The illness has had a devastating effect on every facet of the worldwide economy, including media and entertainment. In some countries, theaters have been forced to shut down because of lockdowns.

An industry that has never seen anything like this before

Pandemic COVID-19 has affected the entertainment industry drastically. It has massive impacts on many things, but the entertainment industry has been hit disproportionately. Considering Vijay Dalwani's experience in the entertainment industry, we chose to discuss this with him. Harmony Events & Talent is owned and operated by Vijay Dalwani, who is passionate about his work.

Vijay Dalwani has said “ It is going to take time for industry to get back to normal. As the globe heals from COVID-19, production will gradually get back on track, and theatres will reopen to their full capacity.”

Furthermore, according to Vijay Dalwani, “if a pandemic has a negative impact, it also has a positive impact. Increased in-home spending has hastened the subscription trend (of O.T.T. platforms) in the entertainment business. Top O.T.T. subscriptions increased by 55-60%”.

Streaming, on the other hand, is the new normal in the meanwhile.

With people spending more time at home than ever before, streaming has become a popular way for them to escape reality. As a result, viewers are now consuming a larger range of information. As they work from home offices, consumers are now streaming material throughout the day, including music and podcasts.

Not only the film industry, but also the event sector has suffered greatly as a result of the crisis, which has affected around 10 million people. M.I.C.E. (meetings-incentives-convention-exhibition) is a 500,000-crore market that includes both the organized and unorganized sectors, and COVID-19 has an impact on employment creation.

Many highly anticipated major international events due to take place in 2020 were postponed until this year.

Due to COVID-19, Euro 2020 was also postponed. The European football tournament was rescheduled for the months of June and July 2021.

What Will the event and entertainment Industry Look Like After the Pandemic?

Vijay Dalwani described how these industries are affected by the pandemic. “Incorporating both real and virtual aspects, hybrid events may become the standard. This is a fantastic opportunity for event planners, as they will no longer be constrained by the size of the venue and will be able to expand their audience to include both virtual and in-person guests”.

Same for the entertainment industry there appears to be a ray of hope in the form of over-the-top media providers. Over the last several months, there has been an increase in the use of OTT platforms. Multiple OTT platforms are offering free subscriptions to their services in order to encourage habit development (KPMG), in the hopes of attracting more members once we return to normalcy. Many users, many of whom have never used OTT services before, are now experimenting with them.