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COVID-19 has led to an increase in media consumption, with people either seeking information about what is going on in the world around them or looking for entertainment to distract themselves while they are stuck at home. This has changed the broadcasting landscape, with broadcasters moving swiftly to take advantage of this surge. There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed the broadcasting market and we are going to look at a few ways it has done so.
New Opportunities for Broadcasters
The pandemic has disrupted many of the established revenue streams that broadcasters usually have, but it has also led to new opportunities. With an engaged audience giving broadcasters a chance to grow their subscriber and viewership numbers, broadcasters are able to grow their revenue through increased interest from advertisers looking to reach the audiences the broadcasters have.
With the increase in online traffic, more broadcasters are also becoming open to using social media to reach their audiences where they reside. Advertisers are also following them there and this is why digital advertising revenues are growing for broadcasters who have embraced social media.
A Shift to Streaming
The shift to online and streaming services is likely the biggest change to the broadcast market caused by COVID-19. Streaming is seen as a way to diversify sources of revenue as well as attract users to subscription services.
Because of this shift, we are seeing more broadcasting houses moving from a linear platform to a digital one, with prominent media companies having already built their own streaming services or willing to look into solutions that allow them to do so.
Demand for Linear TV is Growing Again
After years of being cannibalized by online streaming and over-the-top (OTT) services, the demand for linear TV is growing again. With a lot of people stuck at home, the amount of time spent in front of a TV is higher now than it has been in the past few years. For example, the amount of time spent watching TV grew to 4.5, 3.5 and 3 hours in France, Belgium and the UK respectively.
Because of the need for both information and entertainment, studies predict that the time spent watching TV grew by 10% in 2020. Businesses that want to take advantage of this renewed interest in linear TV can create televisions channels and distribute their content through services like playout from Red Bee Media. Playout is the perfect solution whether you want to create linear channels that feature live events or pre-recorded shows. The service is designed for both global and regionalized channels with Red Bee allowing businesses to deliver their service from the UK, Nordics, Europe and the Middle East to help you comply with licensing needs.
New Mediums Are Growing
The pandemic has caused a lot of people to work at home and, because of this, there has been an increase in the amount of audio content that people consume. As the consumption of audio content continues to rise, more broadcasters and independent content creators are looking to get into audio streaming and podcasting.
Due to the rising demand for entertainment and education through audio streaming services on platforms such as Spotify, we can expect to see a lot more broadcasters switching to podcasting or starting their own services. Also, these new mediums are another way for broadcasters to diversify their income and revenue streams.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed the way we consume media. There is a strong relationship between this and broadcasters changing the way they do business and earn revenue. Because of these two, we are seeing changes in broadcasting that are likely to shape the way broadcasting looks like for decades.