For the first time this year, the Internet will break the Zettabyte Barrier–a total 1.1 zettabytes of data will course through the veins of the Internet by the end of 2016
It’s no secret that big data is touching every area of life today. It has given the medical community insights and helped them to make vast inroads in medical care. Big data has been a driving force in inventory and supply chain changes. It has given businesses from small to large the ability to quite literally see into the future. Big data promises them access to valuable insights and streams of information that can help to ascertain customer habits, customer likes and dislikes and even inventory.
Today’s technology environment is a marketer’s Big Data dream. There are now more than 2.6 billion smartphones worldwide. It’s like having Little Brother in your pocket, tracking almost every move as people watch TV, interact with two million apps, a billion websites and link up with Facebook friends.
More and better information has the ability to transform any business and company, to make it better than it has been prior to now. One example of this is the Internet of Things, connected sensors, devices, and even appliances can help to make lives better and easier. As more such devices come online, watching news online, interacting with broadcast media, and people become more engaged through digital means, more data will be generated, allowing every industry to actively participate in the big data explosion.
Broadcasting and media is definitely going to be affected by IoT and big data in ways that frankly, they may not yet be able to imagine. The trends and projections in Broadcast and media are–to a great extent–related to IoT and the projected growth.
Media and entertainment companies are at the forefront of efforts to harness the tidal wave of Big Data and turn it into a wealth of new insights, as the audience fragments into millions of individual pieces. “It’s not just about viewership anymore, it’s targeting, recommending models, personalizing engines, watching Hulu and Netflix, and having content suggestions,” says Thomas Siegman of RSG Media, which advises content companies. “It’s an air of personalization versus just figuring out what people are watching.”
Over time, the IoT and big data will become an agent in and of itself for the company that owns it and the person who uses it. Emergency companies will be alerted by on board sensors in vehicles that an accident has taken place. Media companies who are connected can receive live data, letting them know where the next big story may be.
The trend in business last year and for the previous few years, post recession has been toward safety and security. The trends this year are toward new and innovative technology that will allow for businesses to see more about their customers and their own services. Media and broadcast companies are going to have to take a few risks in order to embrace the technology that can boost them to the top of the pack with big data in broadcast and media technology.