Edelman's Trust Barometer shows the tech industry is rapidly losing trust worldwide, and most acutely in the US. The report details how trust is declining across specific technologies as well, including 5G, AI, IoT, and VR.
We expect there will be 159.1 million monthly mobile phone gamers in the US this year, up 1.2% from 2020. That’s 89.5% of all US digital gamers, making mobile phones the leading device by a significant margin.
Spotify takes on Clubhouse: The company is entering the live social audio space with its Locker Room acquisition—but Spotify is still primarily a listening-focused app, which could hurt its ability to compete against social-focused competitors.
T-Mobile throws in the towel: The telecom giant will sunset its skinny bundle TVision next month, joining many other companies that have failed to crack this difficult yet growing market.
Axios and The Athletic consider a merger: The two media upstarts’ talks may include jointly building a portfolio of high-quality publishers and selling business subscriptions—the latest effort by media companies to diversify revenue streams.
A universal Universal streaming service: NBCU is reportedly considering launching a Universal-branded subscription streaming service in response to fears that the Peacock brand lacks global appeal.
Live sports is staple programming for Canada’s broadcasters, but streaming has provided a viable alternative for the more digitally inclined. Almost a quarter of adult sports viewers in Canada said they watched sports content via livestreams, compared with 60% who reported following sports via live TV, per a January 2021 survey by YouGov. Canada lags behind the 39% average for sports streaming across the 32 markets YouGov polled, but it was roughly on par with similar digital economies. For example, 17% of respondents in the US and 24% in the UK said they watched sports this way.
Disney delays its theatrical return: Straight-to-streaming releases and shorter theatrical windows are dimming hopes of a full movie industry recovery this year. Worse, some changes may be permanent, further hurting the entertainment industry’s ad spending growth.
Roku to launch in-house branded content: The streaming-first branded ad studio is Roku’s latest move to ramp up its advertising segment as marketer interest in CTV booms.
Microsoft wants to buy Discord: It’s the tech giant’s third attempt at tapping into a younger user base, but the third time could be the charm—Discord has a lot of synergies with Microsoft’s existing communications and gaming services.
Once relegated to the children’s market, virtual characters are entering the mainstream in China. Fictional as these digitally rendered avatars may be, they hold real jobs, from pop star to influencer, to even news anchor. And they’re becoming increasingly interactive and humanlike, thanks to improvements in technologies such as AI, motion capture, and virtual reality (VR). Recent advancements in augmented reality (AR), in particular, have enabled virtual avatars to step out of social media and make live appearances alongside flesh-and-blood celebrities.
Pandora outpaces Spotify for brand recognition in US
On today's episode, we look at how awards shows are doing and hand out some pretend awards of our own: "Must-Pay-Attention-To Video Streaming Platform," "Traditional Media Dark Horse," "Standout Brand/Company/Advertiser of the Year," and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analysts at Insider Intelligence Jeremy Goldman, Nicole Perrin, Jillian Ryan, and Debra Aho Williamson.
Where is all the diversity on TV?
On today's episode, we discuss Facebook and Apple's next virtual and augmented reality moves, Netflix cracking down on password sharing, whether Google and Facebook killed the concept of "free," what Americans will do with their stimulus checks, how ESPN+ will do on Hulu, where in the world there is a giant plughole in the ocean, and more. Tune in to listen to the discussion with eMarketer forecasting analyst Rini Mukhopadhyay, senior analyst Sara M. Watson, analyst Blake Droesch, and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Jeremy Goldman.
Peacock wants to charge TV premiums for streaming: While streaming viewership continues to grow, NBCU's ambitious goal of pulling in equal ad pricing for its platform will likely face pushback.