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COVID-19 Pushed ‘Technology Adoption Curve’ Forward 2 Years, Says WarnerMedia Engineer

The content industry even before the COVID-19 pandemic was “moving towards software-based systems, virtualization, cloud” and IP, Michael Koetter, WarnerMedia senior vice president-technology strategy, told an SMPTE webinar on media production in the coronavirus era. With stay-at-home mandates in place…

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since March, “it’s been difficult to sustain normal workflow,” he said. “I think we’ve all jumped into the deep end of the pool with these technologies. We’ve pushed this technology adoption curve forward probably by two years.” And “we have not just remote contributors, but remote production operators, remote engineers -- everyone’s remote.” The “crazy thing” about that environment is “we’re not just surviving, we’re thriving,” he said. “The technology is incredibly empowering. Not only have we managed to keep our production going, but we have done everything from taking hours of commute off people’s days to reducing pollution.” The new normal doesn’t just apply to news or sports, “but also to traditional film and TV production,” he said.