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The entertainment sector is one of the most affected by digital transformation. The industry has reinvented itself by switching to on-demand entertainment, streaming services, and cross-platform products. In this shift, data has become the most valuable asset for the sector. By using data, companies can reach new markets, tailor content for audiences, and make informed decisions to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate risks.
Entertainment companies that do not ensure high standards of data governance and data security are exposing themselves to a wide range of threats — cybersecurity and privacy breaches, legal problems, and big data management inefficiencies.
SEE: Data Governance Frameworks: Definition, Importance, and Examples (TechRepublic)
How the entertainment industry uses data
Data is used in every process — from content creation to distribution, marketing, decision-making, and management. Particular uses include:
- Better understand and track consumer preferences, and identify trends and popular themes.
- Craft products and content, and gain demographic insight.
- Analyze audience behaviors and historical data, and predict box office performance.
- Deliver hyper-personalized entertainment experiences.
- Drive distribution and marketing, targeting specific demographic groups and interests, and adjusting prices based on demand.
- Measure product success and subscriber growth, predict return on investments, streamline budgets, and assist with financial forecasting.
SEE: What Is Data Quality? (TechRepublic)
How data governance affects the entertainment industry
Data governance ensures product and system standards, builds brand value and customer trust, and helps companies meet sophisticated regulations while strengthening cybersecurity postures.
Effective governance programs serve as a safety net for the industry, proactively addressing potential risks. There are numerous examples of data governance gone wrong.
For example, on-demand streaming platforms like Netflix lost millions of subscribers in 2022 as they failed to understand inflation, password sharing, and other key data.
Poor data governance can also lead to compliance and legal problems, such as those reported by CNBC, where the co-producer of “The Matrix Resurrections” filed a case against Warner Bros. for an alleged breach of contract.
Whether it be ending up in court, losing revenue, or damaging customer trust, data governance is vital for the sector.
SEE: Data Governance Checklist (TechRepublic Premium)
The benefits of data governance for entertainment companies
Typical advantages include enhanced decision-making, improved compliance, and increased cybersecurity and efficiency. However, there are others:
- Stronger brand and customer trust: Companies can build trust by openly and transparently committing to data governance, privacy, and security.
- Improved content recommendations: A solid framework will boost content recommendation efforts and ensure the responsible use of data for these programs.
- Personalized marketing: Campaigns for customers can lead to increased engagement and conversion rates.
- New revenue streams: It can help identify new streams and explore them responsibly.
SEE: How to Measure Data Quality (TechRepublic)
Data governance challenges
Most of the difficulties are not unique to the entertainment sector. Companies need to deal with protecting sensitive customer data, ensuring data quality and accuracy, maintaining compliance, and navigating data silos. Specific issues include:
- Managing intellectual property rights: Companies must consider complex IP rights and restrictions associated with creative content.
- Online platforms and user data: With the expanded market reach, responsibly and safely managing big data and user data can be difficult.
- Innovation: Staying one step ahead of disruptive data trends caused by innovation is only possible with a flexible data governance policy.
SEE: Best Practices to Improve Data Quality (TechRepublic)
Best data governance practices for the entertainment sector
All entertainment companies must embrace the best practices to successfully operate. This often means aligning data governance with business goals, training the right team, using the right technologies, and monitoring and adjusting processes over time.
Data governance is not a one-time project. It’s an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and commitment. For the entertainment industry, which has been built on the success of creative talent, shifting to a data culture can be challenging.
This article was originally published in September 2022. An update was made by the current author in January 2024. The latest update was by Antony Peyton in June 2025.
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