Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Screen multiplication: content consumption in 2020

02/12/2020

As we approach the end of this 2020, the study of the impact that this unusual year has had on the Broadcast & Media industry is more interesting than ever, not only to confirm some early ideas about what remote working, confinement and the lack of leisure alternatives could cause, but also to begin to understand the new paradigms of an industry whose circumstances have led in many cases to a quantitative, cultural and technological leap forward.

This acceleration and shift in trends seems to have come to stay, so it is worth taking a look, first of all, at the evolution of content consumption in three of the areas that have experienced the most changes: linear television, video on demand and live streaming.

Linear television or the restoration of confidence

As could be expected, during the second and third quarter of 2020 there was a considerable increase in news monitoring on linear TV. According to LogIQ data, news consumption increased up to 80%, to which it is also necessary to add a change in the usual focus of interest from global to local relevance, as audiences sought to learn how their closest environment was evolving.

On the other hand, this renewed interest at present partly compensated for the general stoppage of live sports, a temporary drought that caused great losses for all concerned, as more than 50 disciplines, not including multi-sport events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (now 2021) were postponed or cancelled. It is estimated, for example, that this Olympic postponement puts at risk more than $5 billion in television rights, or that FIFA, the international soccer regulatory body, has lost more than $14 billion to date.

Of course, these events have affected media revenues. On the one hand, advertisers are investing less in television (32% less on average according to Devoncroft data) compared to digital media, and on the other hand, the pay TV model is clearly in decline. AT&T recently reported close to 1 million cable TV cancellations in the second quarter of 2020 in the US alone, and it is now one of the business branches to be put up for sale.

Although with the return of many sports activities this income has increased slightly in recent months, most major groups already have a video-on-demand alternative, an immersion in an increasingly competitive landscape.

The increasingly populated VoD scene

If 2019 was the starting point for Streaming Wars, 2020 is a further step in the creation, expansion and consolidation of SVoD platforms, i.e. those that offer content to the user by means of a subscription, without forgetting the increasingly common presence of mixed models and those purely based on ads or AVoD, such as Pluto TV.

Netflix remains the reigning VOD platform with nearly 200 million subscribers, and has experienced unprecedented growth during the pandemic, gaining some 26 million subscribers in the first half of the year, when in 2019 it added less than 28 million throughout the year, although it failed to reach its growth estimate for the first time in the third quarter of 2020, which could be the first indication of a certain market saturation.

In second place is Amazon Prime Video, which to a large extent due to the unparalleled bundle of its Prime service has already accumulated more than 150 million subscribers worldwide, in addition to being the second in investment for its own productions with an estimated expenditure of 7.6 billion dollars, an investment that seems to be paying off judging by the success and recognition of features such as Fleabag or The Marveous Mrs. Maisel.

But without a doubt, the most outstanding case is that of Disney +, which debuted in the USA and Canada a year ago and which, despite still being in the process of international expansion, has already more than 70 million users. Due to this success, Disney recently declared that it will reorganize its structure to reinforce its direct-to-consumer strategy, a trend that was already apparent with the exclusive on-demand release of Mulan last September.

On the opposite side of the coin is the Quibi initiative, a short content platform initially designed for mobile consumption. Despite having great talent for its productions and an initial investment of more than 1 billion dollars, it seems that the combination of a dubious proposal content initially produced only for mobile consumption and with the functionality of being able to flip the image at any time as a star element -, the pandemic and other factors led the vast majority of users (96%) not to keep the application after the trial period, which would lead to its closure after only six months of existence.

Faced with this avalanche of American OTT services from large corporations, several European national media have chosen to ally themselves to be competitive, offering services that add up to the combined catalogs of the members, such as Salto in France, Britbox in the United Kingdom, Joyn in Germany or LovesTv in Spain.

Source: OTT Streaming Wars: Raise or Fold Capgemini

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the pandemic has accelerated processes that were already taking place in many households, where the paradigm is no longer the choice between linear TV or streaming, but which platforms to pay for and for how long.

Live streaming is the big winner

Finally, we cannot fail to analyze the phenomenon of live streaming. Because of the pandemic, live streaming platforms have managed to attract a much larger audience than before. As expected, with confinement many people are spending more time on social networks, and the consumption of live content on Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Gaming, and other platforms such as Twitch has increased considerably.

In fact, Twitch is undoubtedly the leading platform for live streaming, controlling 76% of this market according to Stream Elemen
LINK: https://www.vsn-tv.com/en/multiplication-screens-content-consumption-2...
See more stories from vsn

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

03/09/2026

Accedo and MediaKind Launch End-to-End Streaming Solution...

Accedo, a global provider of video streaming software and services, and MediaKind, a world-leading video technology company and the number one independent provi...

03/09/2026

14 Percent of live sports viewers have considered switchi...

International research from Big Blue Marble puts a consumer churn number against a technical failure, and sets out what streaming providers must fix before 2030...

03/09/2026

Broadpeak expands CDNaaS for streaming at scale with new...

High-performance points of presence power video streaming delivery to large audiences across Latin America with guaranteed quality of experience Broadpeak , a ...

03/09/2026

Dalia Delivers New Agentic Workflows Changing How Media W...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, will unveil the next evolution of Dalia at IBC2026 (7.A43), its media-aware agent...

03/09/2026

CGI showcases AI-assisted newsroom and radio workflows pa...

CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the world's largest independent IT and business consulting services firms, will showcase CGI OpenMedia Evolve and CGI d...

03/09/2026

LiveU Joins IBC Accelerator Smart Stories Consortium to D...

LiveU is participating in the IBC Accelerator Incubator 2026: Smart Stories The New Knowledge Architecture for Content Production, an industry-wide initiative...

03/09/2026

Christer Palsson brings global experience to Broadcast So...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast and media industry, has taken another major step in its...

03/09/2026

Quortex brings AI and IP transition into focus at IBC 202...

Quortex today announced that it will showcase how it is accelerating innovation and the transition to IP at IBC 2026. The company will debut its newest intellig...

03/09/2026

Grass Valley Names Ronny Van Geel Vice President Of Cameras

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

VisualOn and EZDRM Enable Visualization of C2PA Provenanc...

The EZDRM approach to Revenue Security on streaming video can be visualized as a multi-dimensional set of solutions. A growing dimension of that approach is the...

03/09/2026

Kiloview Brings Hybrid AV-over-IP to Life at IBC 2026 wit...

From field capture to management, control and production, Kiloview will demonstrate one connected Hybrid AV-over-IP workflow including a complete 4RU producti...

03/09/2026

Mediagenix Curation Unlocks Greater Catalog Value Through...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced Mediagenix Curation, a new...

03/09/2026

LucidLink brings distributed media into active workflows...

LucidLink, the Emmy-winning cloud-native file streaming platform for instant, secure access to large files, today announced the next step in its vision to make ...

03/09/2026

Fraudulent communications purportedly from Screen Australia

Fraudulent communications purportedly from Screen Australia 3 September 2026 Screen Australia is aware of scam attempts involving fake emails and promotional m...

03/09/2026

AJA Introduces FS8, Next-Gen 12G-SDI/SMPTE ST 2110 Media Processor

AJA Introduces FS8, Next-Gen 12G-SDI/SMPTE ST 2110 Media Processor Brie Clayton September 2, 2026 0 Comments AJA Video Systems unveiled FS8, a video a...

03/09/2026

Shooting Deadheading with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF

Shooting Deadheading with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton September 2, 2026 0 Comments Bringing a small story to the big screen with dark com...

03/09/2026

OOONA Launches OOONA Go: Professional Localization Management for Small Companies

OOONA Launches OOONA Go: Professional Localization Management for Small Companie...

03/09/2026

East of Texas Opens at American Tobacco Campus, Bringing North Carolina's First Tex-Mex BBQ Concept to Durham

DURHAM, N.C. - East of Texas Durham has officially opened its doors at American ...

03/09/2026

Is Six-Seven over? Comedian Tony Cantwell gets the low-down from kids in new RT KIDS series, First Class Take

First Class Takes is a new six-part series for RT KIDS that captures funny, hon...

03/09/2026

NBA 2K27' With NVIDIA DLSS 5 Leads 26 New Games Coming to GeForce NOW

September is here with 26 more games streaming on GeForce NOW this month, led by a slam dunk: NBA 2K27 with the NVIDIA DLSS 5 3D-Guided Neural Rendering feature...

02/09/2026

SVG Venues & Teams Summit 2026: All Sessions Now Available To Watch on SVG PLAY

Professional and collegiate clubs, leading vendors discuss current trends in stadium production On. Aug. 12, the 2026 SVG Venues & Teams Summit explored the ev...

02/09/2026

SoFi Stadium Completes Broadcast Infrastructure Upgrade

SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and Hollywood Park have completed an infrastructure upgrade expanding game presentation and broadcast production capabilities acr...

02/09/2026

IBC 2026: Comcast Technology Solutions Unveils AI-Powered Workflow Applications

Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a suite of AI-powered workflow applications for broadcasters, content owners, and operators, built on its Video...

02/09/2026

NABA and APWPT Announce Partnership on Wireless Spectrum Advocacy

The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) and the Association of Professional Wireless Production Technologies (APWPT) have announced a partnership to ...

02/09/2026

Prime Video Lands Exclusive In-Market Streaming Rights for Six NHL Teams Beginning This Season

Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minneso...

02/09/2026

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Goes Mini: Nine-Year-Old Venue Continues to Innovate With Control Room Mini Halo Board

New LED provides enhanced quality control, quicker show prep, detailed productio...

02/09/2026

Keeley Electronics launch the Tube Drive

Combines the Phat Drive with high-voltage valve circuit The latest pedal from Keeley Electronics combines their popular Phat Mode drive pedal with an all-ne...

02/09/2026

Lewitt introduce Space Replicator Free

Free version of virtual mixing room plug-in introduced Lewitt's Space Replicator plug-in provides users with a virtual monitoring environment that aims ...

02/09/2026

Stereophonic Bundle from AIR Music Tech

Two new mixing & mastering plug-ins revealed AIR Music Tech have just introduced the Stereophonic Bundle, a pair of processing plug-ins designed to provide ...

02/09/2026

Rohde & Schwarz has achieved initial verification of 3GPP Rel. 17 power-saving feature SSSG for 5G NR

Rohde & Schwarz has achieved initial verification of 3GPP Rel. 17 power-saving f...

02/09/2026

AgileTV and Fiend MTS Complete CDN Watermarking Integration to Fast-Track Anti-Piracy Protection for Operators

Bilbao - 3rd September 2026 -AgileTV, a leading provider of end-to-end TV and vi...

02/09/2026

Agentic AI in the content supply chain

Why agentic media supply chains need experience design built around visibility, reversibility and human authority When AI can generate a functional interface ...

02/09/2026

Gracenote study: 85% of sports fans want TV home screens to show when and where to watch favorite teams

Six-country survey finds 26% of sports fans frequently unable to determine where...

02/09/2026

Manfrotto Showcases New Video Support Solutions at IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/09/2026

Mediagenix Rebrands Spideo as Mediagenix Curation

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/09/2026

Creative Technology Group Founder Graham Andrews Sets Year-End Exit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/09/2026

San Antonio Spurs, DAZN Ink Exclusive Streaming Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/09/2026

DPA Launches 6388 CORE Headset Microphone With Shifted Ac...

KOKKEDAL, DENMARK, SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 DPA Microphones announces its new 6388 CORE Headset Microphone, a high-performance directional headset designed for dema...

02/09/2026

Pliant Technologies Spotlights CrewCom CXD 32CF Dante AES...

Pliant Technologies will highlight its CrewCom CXD 32CF 32x32 Dante /AES67 Digital Audio Network Interface, a powerful connectivity solution designed to expand ...

02/09/2026

iWedia Enhances Teatro Pulse with Edge AI Self-Healing an...

iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced two enhancements to Teatro Pulse, its end-to-end TV service operation...

02/09/2026

Signiant Accelerates More Than File Transfers at IBC2026

Signiant, trusted by the media industry for accelerated content movement for more than 20 years, will showcase the latest evolution of the Signiant Platform at ...

02/09/2026

Calrec Argo M Powers Cloudbass Next Generation OB Fleet

With a contractual agreement to supply a leading UK sports broadcaster with outside broadcast services for 104 football matches per season over the next four ye...

02/09/2026

IBC2026 puts sport at the winning end of media innovation

IBC2026 will put sport firmly at the centre of the global media and entertainment technology conversation with the strongest sports showing in the event's h...

02/09/2026

PTZOptics Demonstrates the Power of Intelligent Multicame...

PTZOptics will bring a hands-on showcase of intelligent video production to IBC2026 (11-14 September, RAI Amsterdam), with demonstrations spanning new camera te...

02/09/2026

OOONA Launches OOONA Go

OOONA, a global provider of professional management and production tools for the media localization industry, today announced the launch of OOONA Go, a ready-to...

02/09/2026

EON Media launches AI media activation and monetization s...

EON Media will make its European debut at IBC2026 (September 11-14, RAI Amsterdam) in the show's Future Tech Zone (Hall 14.FT5). The company is launching it...

02/09/2026

Frequency Defines the Intelligent Channel at IBC2026

Frequency, the engine behind many of the worlds leading streaming television channels, will demonstrate at IBC2026 how integrating intelligence throughout chann...