Media & Entertainment

This year, a resounding 2.96 billion people worldwide will play digital games, whether via console, computer, or mobile device.

On today's episode, we discuss what brand new forecasts the forecasting team cooked up in Q3, including global podcast listeners, 5G users, and connected car drivers. We then talk about heavy podcast listeners' receptiveness to ads, the rise of paywalls, and whether audio glasses can become a mass-market product. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analysts at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle and Peter Newman.

Roblox’s branded gaming business becomes a bit more accessible: In-game advertising company Anzu will let companies experiment with Roblox ads on a smaller scale without having to create full-blown branded universes.

The consumer VR headset market is poised to enter a renewed stage of competitiveness focused on creating digital ecosystems—Apple’s forte.

YouTube videos are the most popular media among US children online, with 85% of those surveyed watching that content recently.

A standard currency for TV and digital is unlikely, despite buyers’ wishes: Media buyers want more connection between linear and streaming TV, and though individual networks are making strides, an industrywide solution is unlikely.

Though HBO Max did not come close to reaching 100 million US viewers over the period of our previous forecast, we now project the streaming platform will cross that threshold in 2023.

It’s our second episode of Brand Anatomy, where we get exclusive looks inside leading brands! Today, eMarketer Briefing director Jeremy Goldman sits down with Panasonic's Brian Rowley, vice president of marketing, to discuss how the company—a longtime leader in consumer electronics—leveraged podcasting to reposition itself as a B2B and enterprise powerhouse.

Social media platforms are betting on social audio as part of the creator economy: Live audio is becoming less about the platforms that started the trend as more big firms launch creator-focused features.

The company could launch the new device as soon as this week and may also be working on a metaverse platform.

In September, we raised our forecast for HBO Max viewers. We now believe that HBO Max will have nearly 80 million monthly viewers this year, and that it will surpass 100 million viewers by the end of 2023. Previously, we did not expect HBO Max to break 100 million viewers by the end of our forecast period in 2025.

Bond is back, but a critically acclaimed franchise no longer guarantees box-office success: This installment is star Daniel Craig’s last, but it failed to meet the expectations set by blockbusters like Disney’s “Shang-Chi.”

Epic Games’ potential Fortnite movie could blur the lines between competitors: The company has previously been name-checked as a rival by streaming services and film studios alike.

Spotify has the most users among digital audio platforms, followed by Pandora, Amazon Music, and Apple Music. Amazon will surpass Pandora in listeners next year.

Trust in mass media is down—but social media isn’t a perfect alternative: Media confidence is highly split on partisan lines, and using social media for news can reproduce the same problems.

The forecast: In 2021, US Roku monthly users will increase by 11.5%, reaching 111.7 million monthly users. With these figures, Roku maintains its position as the most-used connected TV (CTV) device in the US market, though Amazon Fire TV is catching up.

IAC’s Dotdash acquires Meredith in a $2.7 billion deal: The move demonstrates that publishers see value in building deep verticalized content brands, hastened by the demise of the third-party cookie.

On today's episode, we discuss what the ramifications of Facebook going dark might be, the search for virtual reality's (VR) dopamine rush, how optimistic marketers should be, some new augmented reality sunglasses for binging TV, how to future proof your marketing, how to combat employee burnout, why there's still some hope for humanity, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Suzy Davidkhanian, director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, and director of forecasting at Insider Intelligence Oscar Orozco.