READ MORE: Following CES, Parks Associates Releases Top Insights across Key Tech Categories in Connected Home, Streaming Video, Health, SMB, and More (Parks Associates)

Smart TVs now represent the most important point of entertainment aggregation, control, and data collection in the connected home, according to a new report from Parks Associates, “2023 Top Insights – Smart Home,” based on findings from the Consumer Electronics Show.

The research analysts report that annual home service spending is $340 billion across home phone, internet, mobile, security and video services, amid continued growth of value-added services and connected devices in the home.

Consumers now place more value on their home’s internet service than previously. Increases in connected device ownership, increased streaming video, and a large remote workforce have further strengthened the importance of home internet.

Parks reports that consumers are seeking new bundles and services incorporating multiple service offerings, including home internet, pay-TV, landlines, mobile phones, and home security. The rise of these bundles, including broadband value-added services, has more than offset the decline in traditional bundles, it finds.

Such bundling and aggregation offer the traditional TV broadcaster “a path forward to reimagine video offerings in a multi-channel, multi-platform world,” the analyst says.

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Data about consumer viewing via connected TVs allow providers to offer an improved experience with more relevant and personalized experiences for the viewer. Meanwhile, advertising partners can execute targeted marketing campaigns based on specific interests and behaviors. Parks cites new technologies promising to bring the “shoppable ad” vision to reality on TV through T-commerce experiences.

Content remains king — that is, the most significant factor influencing consumers’ viewing decisions regarding retention, engagement, and customer acquisition, per Parks’ report. Of this, live content has become a key component of many OTT service offerings and a staple of the consumer video portfolio, with good reason.

Sports programming, the biggest and most valuable component of live TV, is migrating from traditional broadcast television to internet streaming channels. Parks thinks that this transition makes it challenging for sports fans to locate content but that this creates opportunities for providers if they can attract fans with a bundled experience.

Internet service providers, meanwhile, are “modifying their relationships with pay-TV, treating the service as a value-add to home internet, and transitioning away from legacy cable head ends to cloud-based infrastructure and streaming TV services.” The goal is to reduce operational costs and widen service appeal, says Parks.

The analyst also notes that piracy is a real problem, potentially costing more than $67 billion dollars worldwide. It expects streaming services to experiment with new ways to protect content and to explore business models that can help recoup lost revenue from password sharing.

READ MORE: State of Mobile 2023 (data.ai)

We’re spending up to five hours on our mobile phones every day, with exclusive sports content serving as a crucial on-ramp for new users, according to mobile data analytics provider Data.ai.

Its “State of Mobile 2023” report further explores a boom in downloads that saw mobile services downloaded a record 255 billion times globally last year. As a result, mobile ad spend is on track to hit $362 billion in 2023, after surpassing $336 in 2022, despite tightening marketing budgets.

Adding coverage of major sporting events can be a “highly effective-albeit expensive-way” to add new users to popular streaming services, is one is one takeaway.

Globally, streaming of the World Cup matches and top cricket tournaments in India drove the biggest download spikes.

In the US, the World Cup also drove large adoption spikes for Peacock TV and fubo TV, while streaming deals with the NFL helped Peacock TV, Paramount Network and Amazon Prime Video.

FOX Sports and Canada’s TSN GO also saw “huge increases” in adoption as a result of their FIFA World Cup coverage.

DAZN and ESPN are the “clear standouts” in terms of consumer spending in the sports app category, earning more in 2022 than the rest of the top 10 sports apps combined. Nearly all of ESPN’s revenue comes from the US, while DAZN has managed to monetize across more markets by casting a wide net in terms of its sports coverage in different markets. Some of DAZN’s content includes Serie A in Italy (where frequent blackouts don’t appear to have dented its popularity) and Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, as well as pay-per-view boxing.

Sports betting apps downloads peak at the start of the NFL season each year and the Super Bowl. The report found that sports betting installs reached 4.3 million at the start of the 2022-2023 NFL season, up 8% year-over-year and more than four times the total from September through October 2018. FanDuel emerged as the market leader in 2022, with BetMGM, DraftKings, and William Hill vying for the number two spot.

Data.ai observes that sports betting apps over-index for a male audience in the 25-44 age range, a similar demographic to those likely to use financial apps, for example, for cryptocurrency trading.

Non-sports content that created the biggest download spikes included Euphoria (HBO Max), Halloween Ends (Peacock TV) and House of the Dragon (HBO Max).

The United States market may be saturated by OTT providers but there’s still room for growth in Europe and Asia. That said, many European markets became more concentrated between 2020 and 2022, largely explained by the massive launch by Disney+ in the region. The report finds that OTT (over-the-top) apps such as Netflix and Disney+ grew 12% year-over-year to $7.2 billion.

“Look for other OTT providers to attempt to emulate Disney+’s successful global expansion,” is Data.ai’s note.

Spending on other apps (non-gaming) increased by 6% year-over-year to $58 billion, largely driven by subscriptions and purchases in OTT, dating, and short videos. Downloads increased 13% year-over-year to 165 billion.

Shortform video apps, led by TikTok, dominated consumer attention in 2022. Users of these apps streamed a whopping 3.1 billion hours of user-generated content daily, up 22% year-over-year, and spent $5.6 billion, up 55% year-over-year, fueling the creator economy.

“TikTok’s recent success was well beyond that of other Entertainment apps,” the report finds. “Over the past 10 years TikTok has more than twice as many downloads as the next closest app, YouTube.”

Other findings in the report: Time spent per day has reached five hours in the top mobile-first markets.

Downloads of mobile apps grew to 255 billion (+11% YoY), and hours spent peaked at 4.1 trillion (+9% YoY). Meanwhile, consumer spending across all app stores, cooled to $167 billion (-2% YoY) for first time ever due to decline in gaming spend, which was previously bolstered by pandemic conditions. However, non-gaming mobile services and subscriptions reached record spend.

“For the first time, macroeconomic factors are dampening growth in mobile spend,” says Data.ai CEO Theodore Krantz. “Consumer spend is tightening while demand for mobile is the gold standard. In 2023, mobile will be the primary battleground for unprecedented consumer touch, engagement and loyalty.”

READ MORE: What’s Next 2023 Trend Report (TikTok)

If you’re looking for clues for how TikTok is shaping global culture and politics you won’t find them in its own report, a glossily produced brochure enticing brands to work with creators and influence users of its platform.

Much of what the shortform video giant says in its “What’s Next: 2023 Trend Report” could have been plucked from similar marketing messages produced over the years for YouTube. And maybe that’s the point. Move over Google, there’s a new place for investors to roost.

“Essentially, [TikTok] is a space where people can find new ideas on how to explore their passions and live their lives,” we learn. “And as people seek out ways to break the status quo, they’ll look to peers and role models who have the confidence to live life the way they want to.”

Sofia Hernandez, global head of business marketing for TikTok, is quoted, also saying not a lot: “2022 was the year people realized they didn’t have to live their lives as they always have done — with different points of view and ideas transcending cultures on TikTok. Next year we’re going to see more of this — as our communities get more confident and inspire positive change together.”

Against the backdrop of the increasing cost of living, apparently what people want is to have fun. They want humor, they want to feel happy and healthy. They want to feel part of a community and, above all, they want to be entertained.

It’s not rocket science, but TikTok says its platform is the best place for advertisers to reach audiences and that to do so they should work with creators.

Four out of five users say TikTok is very or extremely entertaining, per the report. “This means that when advertising messaging is delivered like an ad, but loved like entertainment, brands can see incredible business results,” TikTok explains. “For brands, the most effective messages on TikTok are uplifting, funny and personalized, or entertaining their audiences. Brands can build on this entertainment value by using editing techniques like syncing sounds to transitions or adding text overlays — which are effective at keeping viewers’ attention.”

The report differentiates content on TikTok from other platforms, where it is “personalized” based on broad identity categories or simple browsing histories. In fact, TikTok is 1.8 times more likely to introduce people to new topics they didn’t know they liked compared to traditional social platforms, per the report. We learn that content is curated on the platform based on what viewers find entertaining, so it captures their attention and trust.

“The trust is a result of who’s making the content. When a viewer sees a video from a creator they can relate to or from an expert they’re more likely to take the information to heart.”

Among people who took an “off-platform” action as a result of a TikTok video, 92% say they felt a positive emotion that ultimately resulted in an off-platform action. Meanwhile, 72% say they obtained reviews from creators they trust on TikTok, more than any other platform.

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TikTok’s big prediction? In 2023, TikTok-first entertainment will inspire people to test out new products and new ways of thinking and behaving.

We are also led to believe that “people come to the platform to uncover truths and debunk myths, which builds credibility and trust between Creators and their viewers,” which may be news to those concerned about TikTok’s potential for political bias or cultural sway, though in truth these levels of mistrust have yet to reach Twitter and Facebook-style proportions.

Have longer video footage at your disposal? TikTok advises you to let artificial intelligence automatically cut video clips and save yourself time on editing, “so you can focus on the fun stuff.”

Joy, we also understand from the report, is a growing factor in people’s purchasing decisions worldwide, so it should be a key element of marketing strategies in 2023.

“Create TikTok content that helps people carve out joy for themselves, or even provides it through humor, relaxation and relatable points of view. Different creative approaches and tools can help you incorporate these elements into the videos you make for the platform.

In 2023, “messaging on TikTok — and beyond — should speak to this desire for levity and encourage people to make more room for themselves.”

@tiktokforbusiness

Understanding TikTok storytelling culture is 🔑. Get the full scoop in our official What’s Next 2023 Trend Report at the link in bio!

♬ original sound – TikTok for Business

If you consider your smartphone a multimedia/multipurpose technology device, then Ericsson’s mobile reports are for you. The latest edition is available here.

Here’s the explanatory overview: Global 5G growth amid macroeconomic challenges.

North America and northern east Asia (e.g. China, South Korea, Taiwan) lead the way in 5G adoption, for now. India is expected to be a big player as it continues efforts to launch its own high-tech future, one that embraces all of the country not just a few select well-educated metropolises. Similarly situated countries, such as Indonesia and Nigeria, are also showing strong early adoption numbers.

The report says, “In 2028, it is projected that North America will have the highest 5G penetration at 91%, followed by Western Europe at 88%.”

In terms of current usage, “North America and North East Asia are expected to have the highest 5G subscription penetration by the end of 2022 at around 35%, followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries at 20% and Western Europe at 11%.”

By 2028, Ericsson expects 5 billion 5G subscriptions worldwide.

There is also a prediction that mobile subscriptions (mostly smartphones) will reach 9.2 billion in 2028, up from 8.4 billion calculated for this year. That doesn’t sound like a lot of growth, indicating that nearly everyone who wants a mobile subscription probably has one; remember that there are more than 8 billion people on planet Earth as of 2022.

The report’s “5G in South East Asia and Oceania: A closer look” section looks into that region and the plans to move many, if not all, of those developing countries (referring to notably The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia) into the first world on the wireless front over the next several years. Ericsson thinks that total mobile data traffic in that region will quintuple between now and 2028.

(BTW, that’s why Ericsson may have underestimated its 2028 figures. There are going to be a lot of new people hopping onto the wireless train in the next few years.)

5G Driving Mobile Data Growth

That’s the where. As to the why, perhaps the most interesting section is “5G to drive all mobile data growth.”

That assessment probably doesn’t surprise anyone, but the incline of the rise should open eyes. In other words, what we’ve seen in the explosion of mobile device data usage over the last five years is a ripple compared to a coming tsunami in the next five years. Much of that will be in video, accounting for as much of 80% of mobile network traffic.

4G continues to grow as well, but the report predicts it will peak soon with a gradual decline in its market as 5G is implemented in more locales, regions and countries, along with the usual gradual tech swap out takes over.

“Fixed Wireless Access” is also a growing sector, per Ericsson. These are broadband wireless access points, currently numbering around 100 million, at businesses or on towers for public and private use.

Besides human users, smart devices for the Internet of Things are continually developing. Ericsson expects that market to get hotter, possibly by five times by 2028, with over 300 million access points by then. Northern east Asia is a particular hot spot for them.

5G Roadblocks

Among the things slowing even faster deployment, depending on the country involved, includes making radio frequency spectrum available.

Lower, less RF-efficient bands, below 7 GHz, are the first auctioned off, but they realize the weakest, though cheapest, performance. These bands propelled 3G and 4G in most technologically capable countries and are the technology breeding grounds for developing countries.

Now it comes time to fill out the 7 GHz group and move to the 24 GHz band and above, where 5G can flex its muscles. Being able to operate in multiple bands allows for efficient service uses — low-bandwidth items, for instance IoT and voice-only traffic, can flow unimpeded while high-bandwidth-hungry video and gaming services can operate in the same network on a higher frequency band.

AR for Mobile

The report touches on augmented reality for mobile devices (think Pokémon everywhere 24/7!) and a slow acceptance of improved smart glasses and visors. Ericsson acknowledges the technology and its support ecosystem have yet to mature.

Looking forward, the report says: “As the AR ecosystem develops, traffic arising from AR usage could significantly impact the current forecast. The amount of traffic that will be generated over mobile networks, in addition to mobile broadband and fixed wireless traffic, will depend not only on the uptake and utilization rates of the applications, but also where the critical functions mentioned in the ‘AR devices’ section take place.”

That other processing location will be in a vast network of edge services and network-inhabiting hard and soft virtual processors — all utilizing 5G technology and networks.

On a less technical note, the report also describes a growing practice in flexible bundle packaging for services. These can include gaming, content aggregation, differing speed levels, shorter contracts, to appeal to consumers have more choices among service providers.