Essential entertainment, media and sports insights from Q4 22

Player hand holding gaming controller.
Player hand holding gaming controller.

In this Tech Quarterly

Read about rising trust in social media as a news source, growing consumer interest in immersive shopping technologies and the outlook for streaming entertainment, among other developments.

January 26, 2023

 

Essential entertainment, media and sports insights from Q4 22

WRITTEN BY

Aled Herbert
Content director

Aled oversees all editorial as our content director. He loves a good story – which is no surprise, as he started out in children’s publishing.

Essential entertainment, media and sports insights from Q4 22

January 26, 2023 |

 

1. Technology helps football referees’ decisions, but results can still be offside
Technology supplies some but not all of the answers. This seems to be especially true for video assistant referee (VAR) systems. Unlike a referee, who is close to the action, a VAR system won’t catch every nuance. In short, human referees and VARs work better together.

2. Deloitte report predicts streaming platforms will see increase in advertising video on demand
In its 2023 Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions report, Deloitte expects a growing number of streaming services to offer ad-supported tiers that are less expensive than their premium tiers, or even free. Streaming companies are also on a spending spree to buy up the rights to major live sporting events.

3. Most young US adults trust social media platforms as much as news outlets
The slow death of print journalism marches on. More and more of us are now trusting social media as a source for news, according to Pew Research: half of US adults aged 18-29 express almost as much trust in information from social media as they do information from news outlets.

4. Consumer interest in immersive experiences is growing
Consumers expect immersive experiences to transform interactions with brands, people and services as interest in the metaverse grows. According to a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute, most consumers want to use the metaverse as place to interact with friends, family and work colleagues. They are also looking to web browsers and VR headsets to enhance shopping experiences and to support the purchase of high-engagement products.

5. XFL Catapults into 2023
The relaunch of the US-based XFL, an American-football league, is using wearable tech to monitor players. The league announced it has partnered with Catapult Sports. The wearable technology will used American-football-specific alogorithims to help coaches and managers track and monitor player health. The goal, according to the press release, is to improve performance and minimise injuries.

6. Stadia joins Google graveyard
Google Stadia, once hailed as the ‘Netflix of gaming,’ is no more. The service, which offered both gamers and game developers a fully cloud-based environment, never met Google’s goals. With cloud gaming offerings from Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation, Amazon, Nvidia and others, Stadia couldn’t attract enough users to satisfy its corporate bosses. Google has offered users refunds for everything they spent on the service, including game and controller purchases.

7. 2023 will see continued challenges for journalism
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has issued a report on the challenges that journalism faces in the coming year. Not surprisingly, chasing the right technology (the kind that will make them money) is top of the agenda for new organisations. Just 44 per cent of publishers say they are confident about their business prospects in the coming year. Publishers say they will continue to invest further in podcasts and digital audio (72 per cent), as well as in email newsletters (69 per cent), which have been effective in increasing brand loyalty.

8. Streaming revenue drying up for content producers
Entertainment trade journal The Hollywood Reporter says that media studios are getting nervous as revenues from streaming are failing to make up from lost revenue from so-called ‘cord cutters’ (consumers who ditch cable and pay TV for streaming services). Revenues from conventional TV are down and increased viewership on streaming services isn’t putting money in the studios’ pockets, leaving studios eyeing layoffs and other cost cutting measures, as well as ad-supported streaming services to generate income.

Julian Heathcote, Collective Content senior editor, also contributed to this post.

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