Meantime, severe reductions in advertising budgets are also accelerating structural changes - although consumer media spending continues to see steady growth, creating potential advantages for consumer-funded media companies.

Bain & Company's analysis indicates dramatic change lies ahead for some media businesses, such as newspapers and recorded music, while broadcast media, face very uncertain futures. Ultimately, rapid industry changes will shift profit pools, giving rise to new business models in virtually every media segment and businesses. How can industry players best deploy and maximize the value of their assets in an expanding digital environment?

Though there are more questions than answers, Bain has identified a number of key themes. A few of these include:

• The Consumer is at the center: Power is shifting from the distributors of content to the consumers of content. How quickly this will occur in each media segment depends on the rate of change in the technology, infrastructure and regulatory environment. Also important: companies' ability to assess latent customer needs and create new business models that deliver a superior consumer experience. Successful companies will be those that take a thoughtful approach to testing the waters-building out multiplatform strategies without venturing far beyond their core.
• Listening and Innovation are necessary capabilities: Many media companies will need to make major organizational changes to create the feedback loops that will allow them to better collect, analyze and act on consumer behavioral needs and changes. Deep consumer insights will inform companies' decisions about new business models, cross-platform offerings, next generation user interfaces - everything companies need to offer consumers more relevant choices and to help them navigate those options.

Bain has completed hundreds of assignments with media and entertainment companies, including many of the world's best known and most successful businesses. Our major clients are major diversified media companies, newspapers, international broadcasters and cable TV channels, publishers, location-based entertainment companies, multimedia conglomerates, record labels and cable operators. We have worked extensively with Internet service providers, portals and content providers. In addition, our Private Equity Group has a broad history in the media industry - Bain has helped Private Equity firms evaluate the merits of just about every major media deal over the past five years.

Our projects cover a broad range of issues, such as transforming traditional media businesses to a digital environment, acquisition screening and integration, and content and rights negotiation. We help our clients launch new channels, find new ways to lower costs, segment customers, and pursue new technologies and business models.

To find out more about our work in this industry, please contact Bain's Media practice.