The MINT Issue 05 - August 17th, 2023

• About as many people older than 45 play video games as kids under 18, a new report from trade group ESA reveals. All totaled, 65% of Americans play video games today, roughly 212.6 million players per week. Of those, 26% are under the age of 18, while 25% are over the age of 45. (ESA)

• More and more U.S. streaming audiences are watching ads. According to the latest tracking data from Ampere Analysis cited by The Wrap, ad-supported tiers from Netflix, Disney, and others have collectively crossed 100 million users in the US. One particular call-out of the report is that 90%+ of Hulu subscribers are on its ad-supported tier. (The Warp)

• Research confirms prevailing notions that older Millennials favor streaming TV while Gen Z tends to favor user-generated content. A new survey from InMobi, cited by Fast Company, shows that 61% of the younger generations prefers UGC (i.e. social media content from other users) to other kinds of content, and after that prefers music / podcasts, gaming, then television. Younger Millennials (25–34-years-old) also favored UGC, but television and gaming trailed more closely behind, while 67% of older Millennials (35–44 years-old) favored television out of any other media form. (Fast Company)

• Netflix added 5.9 million subscribers in the last quarter amid password crackdown measures, the company shared. This quarterly gain far exceeded analysts’ expectations of 1.8 million additional subscribers. Netflix said its efforts to enforce password restrictions have reached more than 80% of its revenue base. (LA Times)

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Outlook 2023: Southeast Asia POV

(MEDIUM)

Southeast Asians are moving away from the legacy of global influences and are carving a more definitive path for themselves in response to significant shifts in digital adoption behaviors.

EMA Advertising Landscape

(MAGNA)

The EMEA Advertising Landscape analyzes the media industry and advertising markets in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

LATAM Media Landscape

(MAGNA)

The LATAM Advertising Landscape analyzes the media industry and advertising markets across the 10 markets monitored by MAGNA: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay.

Asia Pacific Media Landscape

(MAGNA)

The APAC Advertising Landscape analyzes the media industry and advertising markets across the 16 markets monitored by MAGNA: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Hollywood is Disillusioned with Streaming — What Comes Next?

(MEDIUM)

Hollywood is losing faith in the streaming model and scrambling for solutions to cut costs and raise ARPU. Four key aspects to consider in terms of what comes next.

Meta Enters The AI Race With An “Open” Approach

(MEDIUM)

What Is Llama 2 and what does it mean for the competitive landscape of generative AI?

Barbenheimer Revived Mass Passion for Movies — But Is This a One-Off?

(MEDIUM)

Can Hollywood learn the right lessons from the success of this organic viral phenomenon?

The Attention Advantage: Using deep learning to boost ad performance

(MAGNA)

The MAGNA media trials team, in partnership with Adlook, showed when advertisers optimize before they bid, they can gain significant improvements across a range of mandatory metrics, including increased attention scores, reduced costs per impression and fewer carbon emissions.

MAGNA Media Trials: It’s All in the Delivery

(MAGNA)

Repeated ad exposures might not be a new phenomenon, but it doesn’t make the experience any less annoying for viewers, 87% of whom agree that they see too many of the same ads, according to new research by MAGNAs Media Trials unit (by Sham Mathis) in partnership with Nexxen, a global, unified advertising technology platform with a specialization in video and Connected TV (CTV).

MAGNA Media Landscapes Market Update: Canada

(MAGNA)

Key facts and latest forecasts about the Canadian media industry and advertising marketplace: market size and growth by media type, top media owners, top spenders, media consumption, regulation.

MAGNA Media Landscapes Market Update: Spain

(MAGNA)

Key facts and latest forecasts about the Spain media industry and the Spanish advertising marketplace: market size and growth by media type, top media owners, top spenders, media consumption, regulation.

The Year in Ads: An AI-driven look at the ads that ran on YouTube last year

(Creative Works X Google)

Floor 9 Ep. 149: Podcasters: More Persuasive than Influencers

(MEDIUM)

Welcome back to Floor 9. In this episode, we had the honor of having Kara Manatt, EVP of Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA, and Edwin Wong, SVP for Insights & Innovation at Vox Media, to chat about their recent blockbuster research on the persuasive power of podcasters and podcasting’s growing influence. When asked which media figures’ influence matters most, their study found that 75% of listeners say podcast hosts compared to 15% who say social media influencers.

Six in 10 streaming viewers will watch ads to save a few bucks

(eMarketer)

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• Google says its Lens image search can now help identify skin conditions

• Roku and Shopify Partnership Brings Easy Checkout to Streaming TV

• Shopify Sidekick is like ChatGPT, but for e-commerce merchants

• Amazon Unveils Biggest Grocery Overhaul Since Buying Whole Foods

• Google’s AI search is getting more video and better links

• Meta releases open source AI audio tools, AudioCraft

• Social media companies all starting to look the same

• TikTok Wants to Sell Made-in-China Goods to Americans

• 5 Wellness Trends to Watch

• Apple and its Vision Pro platform join Pixar's push to standardize 3D content