- Media usage trends stabilized closer to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, though certain channels are primed to return under greater pressure within the months ahead, in keeping with the newest edition of PQ Media’s Global Consumer Media Usage Forecast.
- Global consumers spent 7.97 hours per day with media in 2022, up from 7.14 hours per day in 2017. Major cyclical events, including the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Winter Olympics in China and closely watched U.S. midterm elections, helped spur growth last 12 months.
- Ad-supported media commanded less time than it did in 2017, a potentially worrying sign for streaming platforms eyeing commercials as a income. Other indicators of a slowdown are apparent in digital device shipments as smartphone adoption nears saturation.
Tracking media trends has develop into tougher on account of society-halting disruptions which have caused wild spikes and dips in engagement prior to now few years. While media consumption recorded its fastest increase in 15 years in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic and associated lockdown measures, it then saw a “sharp deceleration” in 2021 as employees began returning to offices and students to high school and extracurricular activities due to the advantages of COVID-19 vaccines. Last 12 months again saw media engagement on the rise, with global consumer usage across digital and traditional channels growing 2.7% to hit 55.81 hours per week, in keeping with PQ Media.
The rate of growth for 2022 was higher than initially expected and put the market more in step with pre-pandemic levels, bolstered by destination viewing occasions just like the World Cup and Winter Olympics that attracted passionate global audiences. At the identical time, the 12 months was impacted by a souring economy within the second half that pushed many lower- and middle-income consumers to cut back on their decisions, teeing up a bumpier 2023.
With macroeconomic challenges persisting in 2023 and device categories like smartphones nearing a saturation point, growth is likely to be harder to return by. Growth in mobile media consumption is forecast to slow to a single-digit rate this 12 months for the primary time since PQ Media began tracking the channel, CEO Patrick Quinn said in a press release. More anemic mobile growth could roil social media platforms which can be already contending with revenue headwinds and investing heavily in areas like short-form video which can be popular with users but not as well-monetized as traditional feeds.
Streamers also could feel a pinch after experiencing a harsh comedown in 2022. Many have cut back on their content expenditures on account of the whiplash. Platforms like Disney+ and Netflix have recently introduced cheaper, ad-supported tiers to higher monetize their costly streaming bets. PQ Media found that ad-supported media made up 53.7% of time spent in 2022, a drop from 58.5% in 2017. Netflix’s ad-supported offering reached 1 million monthly U.S. subscribers in March, Bloomberg previously reported, suggesting it has began to achieve traction after a somewhat rocky launch.
PQ Media’s Quinn noted that the typical consumer has cut back to about 4 over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions in comparison with six last 12 months. The researcher added that the “gold rush” to capitalize on the shift to streaming in its myriad forms was “ultimately, a non-recurring, short-term, cyclical event with resulting blowback implications on the broader economy.”
Still, there are some shiny spots for operators within the film and TV arena. When live TV, streaming and over-the-top channels together, television remained the most-used media platform among the many categories tracked by PQ Media. Meanwhile, film and residential video recorded the fastest rate of growth last 12 months, reinforcing that consumers have returned to theaters for blockbuster hits like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” notched the all-time opening for an animated film last weekend with a worldwide box office haul of $377 million.
Read the complete article here
