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How is COVID-19 impacting our demands for entertainment? Glad you asked…

May 13, 2020 Alan Cross 0 Comments 1 min read

MIDIA Research spends a lot of time looking how how we consume music in the digital age. The company has just release a report on how things have changed in the time of COVID-19.

Here are the key findings:

We have more time–15% more–to devote attention to digital entertainment. Hey, we’re not commuting anymore, so this makes sense.
In mid- to late March, music streams fell in the US and in the UK. We’ve talked about this in the past.
The UK and US have seen an increase in radio listening. (And Canada, too. It’s just too bad that advertisers have bailed.)
Radio programming has benefited from the ‘three Cs’: comfort, connection, companionship. (Yep)
US consumers and UK consumers are now watching more TV during lockdown. (Like, duh. This applies to Canada as well.)
Video streaming has seen a significant rise in the US and in the UK. (Again, duh)
Cost-conscious pandemic programming will become standard to absorb commissioning constraints. (Not sure what this means, but okay…)
US consumers have increased their time spent playing online games during lockdown. (Gaming and e-sports are WAY up.)
Compared to video, music, and sports, gaming is arguably better positioned to weather the storm and emerge stronger at the other end. (Make sense.)
The entire sports rights landscape is likely to undergo a re-evaluation the longer lockdown persists. (Oh, yes. Along with everything else.)
Sports streaming services need to reduce consumers’ justification for churning out of their ecosystems in the future through broadening their content offerings. (In other words, innovate.)

Get the whole report here.