Overall TV usage inched up in December, but streaming, cable and broadcast platforms all lost a bit of their market share. NBCUniversal’s Peacock service also broke into the individual streaming platform rankings. Nielsen’s monthly Gauge rankings of TV use show December 2022 had a tiny gain over November in the total time spent, growing by 0.3%. Most of that growth, however, came in the “other TV use” category and was driven by an increase in gaming on TV screens (the “other” category also includes physical media playback and some on demand viewing). The uptick in video game play brought other TV use to 6.3% of all time spent, up from 4.3% in November.
Vewd, a provider of OTT software solutions, and AirConsole, a cloud-based video game console developed by Zurich-based startup N-Dream, have formed a partnership that “simplifies the distribution of casual gaming services in the TV market.” AirConsole’s gaming system offers integration with Vewd’s content offering, enabling pay TV operators, smart TV device manufacturers and in-vehicle infotainment […]
Netflix said on Thursday that it was buying Boss Fight Entertainment, a small independent video game studio based in Allen, Texas, as the video streaming company pushes further into the lucrative video game market. The acquisition of Boss Fight, a mobile game developer with 130 employees, is Netflix’s third studio purchase since it set its sights on the gaming industry last summer.
The all-cash $68.7 billion purchase of the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty will turn Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, into one of the world’s largest video game companies. It will also help it compete with tech rivals such as Meta, formerly Facebook, in creating immersive virtual worlds for both work and play.
FuboTV, the sports-focused virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD), said its integrated, predictive, free-to-play games and “FanView” live stats features will exit beta on Sept. 2. The exit from beta is timed to coincide with the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) qualifying matches for the Qatar World Cup 2022 soccer tournament. FuboTV has exclusive streaming rights to CONMEBOL through March 2022.
Exclusives
Cutting-edge news technologists from The Weather Channel, CNN, Brainstorm and Planar are leading a vanguard of broadcasters into including augmented and virtual reality in their presentations. They told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that advances in video game technology are making that possible.
Netflix has codified its recently rumored entry into the online video game market, hiring former EA and Facebook/Oculus executive Mike Verdu to lead the initiative. Verdu, who has also worked at Atari and Zynga Inc., will operate under the title of VP of gaming development.
Spanish-language programmer Estrella Media said it is launching a third free, ad supported streaming TV channel, Estrella Games. The new channel is part of the “Experience Estrella. Everywhere” strategy the company unveiled at its NewFront presentation on Wednesday and during virtual upfront meetings with advertisers and media buyers.
Access Europe GmbH has partnered with N-Dream AG to bring its cloud-gaming platform, AirConsole, to the car. The partnership will see Access Europe enable the availability of multiplayer gaming through its In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) platform, Access Twine for Car (Twine4Car) and its car-centric App Store. Since its inception in 2015, Zurich-based AirConsole has gained more than 9 million players in 190-plus […]
Media Financial Management Association’s Media Finance Focus will host a conference keynote on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 1 p.m. ET. The two-part session will feature an address by Mark Orne, EVP, Cross Platform Team, Screen Engine/ASI titled, “Entertainment Choice in the Home: Understanding the Impact of Increasingly More Options.” His session will be followed by a fireside chat, “Mass […]
Mary Collins | Cloud Gaming Poised For Growth Spurt
The recommended isolation to combat the coronavirus provides an ideal growth medium for a media business focused on immersive storytelling and social media interaction. Couple that with the recent suspension of most live sports and the resulting hole in television (and some radio) schedules and growth is almost inevitable.
Cronkite News wanted to test the idea that audiences on-air and online would stay longer and be more engaged with our coverage if we gave them the chance to participate via a live news quiz testing their knowledge of recycling while we reported on the problem. For easy scoring, we opted to go with 10 questions incorporated during the first 15 minutes of our newscast dedicated to recycling coverage. Spoiler alert: This show dramatically overperformed its average for audience engagement.
Veteran broadcaster Tom Rogers (above) and Frankly CEO Lou Schwartz are behind a new streaming platform looking to amalgamate elements of news, live sports, esports and gaming elements, including betting, in a play to draw young cord-cutters.
The Gillette Gaming Alliance will be composed of 11 Twitch streamers from 11 countries active on the platform. Those gamers will represent the Gillette brand, and create related content for their viewers.
YouTube unveiled its long-awaited subscription service Wednesday at an event at its YouTube Space in Los Angeles. Dubbed YouTube Red, the advertising-free option will go live on Oct. 28, across mobile phones, tablets, desktops and connected TVs. Here’s what you need to know about the new service.
Starting yesterdat, a handful of gaming-related channels on the world’s largest video site began selling $4-a-month subscriptions, formally dubbed “sponsorships.”
There’s a battle being waged for that much-maligned piece of furniture we all end up in front of sooner or later. Call it the Idiot Box, the Boob Tube or whatever you want — the majority of media consumption still happens in front of the television, and whether it’s gaming, movie watching, Netflix or just listening to the stereo, tech giants are fighting tooth and nail for a seat on your couch. Here’s what they’re bringing to the party.
Although TV primetime and other daypart viewing has been largely dominated by women viewers for years, growing gaming console use is bringing more men to the TV screen. This trend could act as a gateway to more traditional TV viewing.
