Why Live Streaming Is the Future?
Live streaming has been on the rise for the past decade; however, the pandemic accelerated the growth and adaptations quickly. In fact, many estimates state that the live-stream market will grow with a CAGR of 16% annually, with a market cap of US$ 247 billion by 2027.
Scroll down to discover how live streaming is affecting the media and entertainment industries.
The OTT Role in Live Streaming
Over The Top services have been on the rise for some time now. And their contribution to live-streaming is also immense. While the streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, Hulu, Hotstar have transformed the watching habits, they are also becoming famous for hosting live-stream of Oscars, Emmys, and daily sports.
Unlike regular TV, these services allow users to watch TV shows and movies whenever they want. And that is what’s happening with live streaming. As they continue to be one of the most prominent players in the streaming industry, they are also taking over the daily sports and covering a large part of live content to users anywhere, anytime they want.
So, of course, users are not hesitating now before cutting the cord and choosing them over regular cable services.
The Evolution of Media
Gone are the days when people used to wait for the morning paper to know about the recent happenings of the world. Today, they get a real-time notification on your devices.
Moreover, with the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, these platforms allow to easily live-stream the news from the place it’s happ2ening and show a better picture of what’s truly happening at the event.
It’s easy for people to simply start their devices and share the content with the public in real-time.
In fact, Cisco 2021 report on Social Media estimates that about 50% of all the content watched via live stream is breaking news.
Live Streaming Creates Active Engagement
Over 82% of the users say that they prefer watching content via live stream than any other means when it comes to the users. In fact, people engage in a live stream longer than on-demand content.
Another stat from Statista revealed that the chances of a customer purchasing a product increase by 8x if they have watched the product via live stream.
Today, people are no longer sitting at their computers to access the internet. In terms of internet penetration, 52% of people engage via smartphones or tablets. On the contrary, only 38% of people no longer access the internet via computer or laptop.
Live Streaming doesn’t need pro-production, nor heavy investment
Live-stream cuts off the editing and pro-production that is involved with regular video content. It’s all about going live. Plus, there’s no need for an expensive digital camera.
Anyone can go live using their smartphone camera. And the public seriously doesn’t care about the resolution quality and sound effects, as long as they watch something exciting.
In fact, Forbes report that Instagram live videos are watched 3x more than the pre-recorded videos.
It is not difficult to see why most experts estimate that live-stream is the future with these stats.
Not to go too far, but live-stream has undoubtedly taken over the sports industry. Today, it’s all about watching it live or never watching it again.
It’s not a Public Service
Live streaming is not just a public service, even when you leave the angle of marketing attached to it. Live streaming, in general, is a clever way to make money among genuine streamers too.
The best part: people know it’s monetizable, and they fund it.
Take, for instance, Twitch. A live streaming platform that helps you know about everything and anything you want to live stream. People worldwide live streaming themselves playing online games, building computers, building wooden materials, to simply dancing.
And people are funding the streamers to keep up the excellent work. In fact, the subscription-based rollouts of Twitch are another interesting showcase that people are willing to pay monthly to watch people’s live streams.
But, why is live-streaming gaining popularity?
Live streaming is the fastest means to broadcast an event. Well, it’s simple. Anything that people love gains popularity.
And people happen to prefer live-streaming over on-demand content too. And that’s what driving live-stream as one of the popular means of feeding content to the public. A survey from Forrester revealed that people, on average, watch a live stream longer than on-demand content.
Be it the marketers, media, or promotions — live-stream has become the most popular way of reaching a more extensive user base within a short time.
Because people want to be reached, it is as simple as that.
The idea of watching something fresh new is exciting for people. And that’s what makes live-streaming one of the popular means of delivering content to the users.
Many studies have concluded that live streams build trust and relationships. Believe it or not, live-stream content is more believable to people. They weigh it on more than pre-recorded video because it helps them realize the audience’s intimacy.
So, why it is the future?
Well, because it is gaining popularity!
People love it. And the fact that people love live streams is changing the views across all industries about how they want to preview their product and showcase the latest TV show.
Yes, even pre-recorded TV shows streamed live to gain more attention than ones that simply upload them on YouTube.
YouTube stats of 2021 revealed that series uploading their episodes as a live stream with the option to interact with the other users are more likely to be watched by people.
And that fact alone is changing the views of marketers and content producers.
As much as 35% of marketers choose to preview the first look by going live. The same is the case with independent and small media productions.
These adaptations are just starting. And they are likely to grow more rapidly than ever.
Of course, what happens in the future is always a surprise. But numbers do give a good view of what’s coming in the future, and live streaming seems to be the future!
