Television is one of the great unifiers of humanity. Whether it’s football fans watching the World Cup in Asia or the American penchant for home improvement shows, there’s a strong chance that almost everyone has consumed some form of broadcast content this week.
Of course, what all these people choose to watch varies according to hundreds of factors, from time of day to personal interests.
Twitch
Put another way, TV can be a difficult thing to put into numbers. Our own readers may gravitate towards shows that feature dreams of wealth and luxury come true, such as Downton Abbey, a series that the late Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed picking fault with, or even Arrested Development, a comedy about a rich family that’s completely detached from reality. Unfortunately, making broader statements about what people like is a much more difficult task.
One thing that has become clear recently is that interest in live material is rising. However, this isn’t exclusive to programs found on TV. Globe News Wire estimates that the live streaming market will be worth US$247.3 billion by 2027, mainly because everyone from governments to education and retail services has adopted the medium to attract viewers. Entertainment remains a major contributor to the space as a whole, though.
A reported 9.3 billion hours have been spent on the streaming platform Twitch, which features live presenters playing video games, crafting, drawing, or simply talking to their fans. Similarly, the Buzz Bingo site recently launched a product that lets people play bingo live. They can talk to the presenter and get a reply in real time from 8 to 10pm every night. Wins are also announced as they happen.
The one thing that connects these two platforms is the internet. It’s therefore portable and immediately accessible from just about anywhere.
“Human Touch”
Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and plenty of other sites have adopted live media, too, leading to one important question – why? From a marketing perspective, the TechJury website notes that videos get 1,200% more engagement from fans on social media. In a similar vein, Stada Media claims that 63% of people surveyed believed that live content adds a “human touch” to digital marketing.
Oddly enough, live TV is still a long way behind pre-recorded shows in terms of total viewers. The Conviva State of Streaming study from 2021 indicates that broadcast TV accounts for 77% of all streamed programming. As the popularity of live and non-live material increased in tandem with each other, at +13% over the year, there’s evidence that this split isn’t about to change any time soon.
That last statement would have been an easy guess even without the numbers, though. While TV is one of the most segmented industries out there, with thousands of channels and streaming platforms, interest in watching television doesn’t seem to be in decline, so the number of large providers out there remains roughly the same from one year to the next. Still, Netflix, once the darling of TV watchers everywhere, has faltered recently.
Whether the anticipated hike in demand for live content to 2027 will affect how we consume more conventional TV is still anybody’s guess.