Podcast: Starcom and eMarketer Discuss Global Media Trends

1. China is on the bleeding edge of change. The number of internet users watching video on demand in China is already larger than that of live broadcast TV by a significant margin. Also, smart TV ownership skews urban and internet users ages 25 to 34, in particular, over-index for smart TV ownership. These are leading indicators of how things are moving quickly.

2. Media Overload. Accept the impending plateau in media use! eMarketer estimates that total time spent with all media will rise by just 0.1% this year in the U.S. There are only so many hours in a day, despite content mobility.  In fact, time spent with tablets or online with PCs is already falling....

3. While total media usage may stay constant, different formats are thriving while others are declining.U.S. time spent with digital media will overtake traditional media this year -- driven by digital video. Time spent on linear television declined by about a half hour while mobile has increased by about six hours.

4. Data Deluge. Data is hitting the market in many forms, from highly structured sets like digital data or purchase transactions, to less organized, social posts and images and from both online and offline activities. Which leads us to the question: Which data is important, and which is not?

5. Smartphones are paramount. A recent WARC announcement predicted that 75% of global internet users will be mobile-only by 2025. Mobile is now virtually omnipresent; the growth in the use of mobile phones has advanced more rapidly than for any other device or technology in history, including fixed-line phones, radio and TV. Asian countries are the leaders with some at 99% penetration. But South America is also advancing. In Argentina, for example, smartphone penetration was almost 96% in the first half of last year among Internet users.

6. Advertisers need to create experiences that are empowered by the smartphone; more opt-in, less display, more passive, more requested. Mobile is pervasive and part of everyday life, but it challenges ad models and our ability to monetize while still delivering value into the overall consumer experience.

7. Tablet use is declining among adults, but who's still tapping in?In families the kids will often have a tablet to play games, watch films or TV and keep themselves occupied. Meanwhile, older people in advanced economies use them to watch films or video or shop. But there's less activity on tablets among working age groups.

8. Social Media rules and disrupts. In Asia-Pacific nearly 1.5 billion people are on at least one social media platform this year. In some countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Columbia and Brazil people are spending more than three hours every day on social media and have multiple logins -- on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest and then on a messaging platform, such as WhatsApp. Time spent on social media impacts other activities because it's hard to combine it with other things except, perhaps, TV or radio. Notably, more people are using social media for news and that's impacting not just the commercial environment, but also the political and social environment. And it will continue.

9. Radio and Print have transformed, so the worst is (generally) over. For radio, digitization has increased the opportunity and types of ways to listen. With more AI and voice-enabled activities, there will be even greater synergy between what we know as radio, the audio experiences of today and how they intersect with voice-activated devices in the home. And yes, print is in decline, but not everywhere. Think India ink. But the future is bleak for those print publishers that have not been able to augment their print publication with an online presence.

Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleagues.

The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author and/or subject(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated writers.