sparking curious mind

Media and entertainment executives see the growing ability and eagerness of individuals to create their own content as one of the biggest threats to their business, according to results of a survey released by Accenture.

More than half (57 percent) of the respondents identified the rapid growth of user-generated content — which includes amateur digital videos, podcasts, mobile phone photography, wikis and social-media blogs — as one of the top three challenges they face today.

The new landscape offers opportunities as well as challenges, according to the study, as two-thirds (68 percent) of the respondents said they believe that within three years their businesses will be making money on user-generated content. However, a quarter (24 percent) of respondents said they do not yet know how their businesses will profit from user-generated content.

Asked to identify which type of content offers the highest growth potential for their industry over the next five years, the greatest number of respondents — 53 percent — cited short-form video, followed by videogames (13 percent), full-length film (11 percent) music, (11 percent), consumer publishing (9 percent) and business publishing (4 percent).