Live Streaming & Digital Media:
160 Predictions for 2020

Our 5th Annual All-Star Panel Peers into the Future of Digital Media

 

160 Featured Predictions for 2020

plus bonus content:

Jessika Phillips on marketing with quick communication channels

Jon Burk on serving content in a brand-centric ecosystem

Mike Allton on video production and distribution in 2020

Chetachi Egwu, Ph.D. on podcasts becoming tv series

Vicki Fitch on why you can’t afford to ignore TikTok

Jules Hannaford on the unique appeal of podcasting 

Mitch Jackson on real-time moments driving the consumer journey

Viveka von Rosen on the keys to success with LinkedIn Live

Nikki Woods on building deeper connections through interactivity

Nicole Sanchez on the benefits of live video for companies

Sabrina Cadini presents her Third Annual Wish List for Live Streamers

 

160 Leading #DigitalMedia personalities make their 2020 predictions for #Livestreaming, #podcasting & #socialvideo at @LivestreamUni. #2020Predictions #160Predictions #RossBrandLive Click To Tweet

Note: There are no affiliate links in the 2020 predictions. All links are direct and supplied by contributors.

A Whole New Content Landscape

When our first edition of the Livestream Universe predictions was published as 2015 turned to 2016, non-gaming live streaming primarily referred to one-to-many broadcasts on Periscope, and multi-person talk shows and extended casual chats on Blab. Niche creators within the live video universe also focused on solo content for Meerkat, which was losing the one-to-many race as Twitter purchased Periscope just prior to launching in 2015, while others stuck with dated-looking and somewhat confusing, but remarkably stable Google Plus Hangouts-On-Air, particularly for corporate broadcasts and podcast recordings, over the rush of early adopters joining the discovery-rich, audience-friendly, and intuitive, but unreliable Blab.

Heading into 2016, the industry was buzzing about the launch of Facebook Live and what it would mean for the other live video platforms, especially as Blab failed to successfully address stability issues, Meerkat was fading and Periscope was a minor player compared to the power of Facebook, with many broadcasters forced to rethink strategies that tied show branding and distribution to a single channel, as opposed to building an audience that would follow the creator to wherever they chose to broadcast.

Of course, once people saw the power and reach of live streaming on a major social network, the idea of returning to closed environments had less appeal. While those leaving Blab may have used other platforms to host their shows and bring on guests, the audience interaction on those platforms became secondary to the ability to send that stream to Facebook Live, which opened the possibility of reaching a vast network of friends and family on personal profiles and potential customers on business pages.

By 2017, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube all had added native live streaming capabilities, and in 2019 LinkedIn embarked on a Beta program for LinkedIn Live, requiring broadcasters to use third-party apps to connect to the premier business social network.

Streaming to leading social media websites became the top priority for most broadcasters, though brands have recently started rethinking that strategy as our predictions and sidebar articles indicate.

And while our focus is primarily on non-gaming live streaming, Twitch, backed by Amazon, is hugely popular with gamers and rapidly growing in use by non-gamers (75% of all live streaming happens on Twitch). What works on Twitch for audience growth, interaction and monetization will likely influence how all types of live content is created, and what features are added, on other platforms.

Creator on Center Stage

2019 was the year the creator took center stage. With technical expertise no longer required to host professional looking live-streams, the talent, personality, knowledge and creativity of the host became the competitive differentiator in the content marketplace.

Those supporting the host, either on camera or behind the scenes, were valued as much, or more, for their roles in content development and delivery than sought out only for straight video production chops.

By far the biggest development enabling the focus on content has been the rapid rise of StreamYard, a live streaming studio in your browser that is both easy to use and delivers a professional-looking video to the viewer. (Full disclosure: I host a show sponsored by StreamYard. I was an enthusiastic StreamYard user prior to that arrangement.)

While Blab made it easy to host talk shows with multiple video feeds on screen simultaneously and BeLive showed us professional elements — such as shot switching, varied layouts, lower thirds, borders and sharing social comments on screen —  could be available to the creators at all levels of technical experience, StreamYard developed a webRTC product that finally brings a level of stability that enables even enterprise streamers like Gallup and network television stars such as former NBC Dateline journalist Chris Hansen to make it their choice for live video production. Add up to 5 guests on a show and there is no decline in audio or video quality.

Telestream also lowered the barrier to entry for live streamers who want additional control of their camera and complete freedom when branding their broadcasts, offering Wirecast One this year to provide an entry-level and affordable option for new users that contains many of the same professional features of it’s award-winning Studio and Pro versions.

Skype for Content Creators, using NDI technology from NewTek, has simplified  the process of bringing on guests when producing live shows with Wirecast, OBS or Ecamm Live.

Access and Ubiquity

Throughout 2019, viewers on social media craved content that provides access and a sense of exclusivity — behind-the-scenes mobile livestreams from speakers and entertainers getting ready to take the stage, tours of bustling urban centers, historic landmark visits and walks through conference expos, post-game video from the winning locker room, and Stories from creators sharing moments from their daily lives or dropping bite-sized nuggets of wisdom and inspiration.

Creators also realize they can greatly expand their reach by distributing their content across the many platforms where their audiences — established or desired — spend their time. More creators are multi-platform live streaming to reach viewers on the most popular social channels simultaneously. Switchboard Live and Restream have been popular multistreaming providers, while StreamYard successfully added a native restreaming capability to its offerings.

Repurposing has become as important — perhaps more important — to branding and reaching audiences than the live broadcast itself. From stripping the audio for distribution as a podcast across numerous directories — Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts being the essential starting points — to cutting up clips for different formats and lengths of time for uploading to YouTube, IGTV, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and writing blog posts with embedded media and show transcriptions, the post-broadcast workflow is no longer a nice-to-have option. There are a variety of services, apps and businesses to help speed the process, and outsourcing post-production is becoming more common.

Audio Advancements

On the live audio production side, the RODECaster Pro was the talk of 2019 as it has made a simplified radio sound-board experience fun and available to the consumer with multi-track recording, 4 XLR microphone preamps, USB interface for live streaming, and buttons on-board for sound effects, audio clips and built-in processing options.

While Rode deserves much praise for developing the RODECaster Pro, the leader in this class remains Sound Devices’ MixPre series, which released a second generation of mixers/recorders/audio interfaces that, like the first generation MixPre line, offers sound quality not otherwise found at price points within the reach of solo creators. The MixPre’s durability, versatility and affordability astonish new users, who have made it the hub of their home studios and take it on video shoots, mobile podcast recordings and remote livestreams.

Both devices have the ability to function as recorders and audio interfaces simultaneously.

Podcasting Proliferates

As podcasting awareness and consumption continues to become more mainstream, major developments are shaking up the podcasting industry, starting with the purchase of Anchor and Gimlet Media by Spotify, which is pouring tens of millions of dollars into the medium as it’s best road to growing its user base. Spotify is second only to Apple Podcasts as the preferred app for podcast listening.

New standards for measuring consumption, along with corporations, big media and Hollywood moving into the space, will likely lead more brands to invest in podcast advertising. Dynamic ad insertion will become more common.

We are already seeing considerable growth in companies, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations developing podcasts geared toward communicating with internal stakeholders, in addition to the content created for marketing to customers and contributors.

Taking Back the Audience

As organic reach is hard to come by on many of the major social platforms, brands are taking back their audiences by creating environments for direct-to-consumer content distribution and social engagement on their own websites, OTT channels and apps. Media companies are going the OTT “plus” route adding their own apps with exclusive live or recorded content for subscribers: ESPN has ESPN+; Disney has Disney+; Food Network has Food Network Kitchen.

How will solo and small business creators find a way to follow this model for themselves? Perhaps it means re-focusing on driving traffic to their own websites to watch their videos and listen to their podcasts, rather than making social media platforms and multi-creator apps the preferred destinations for content consumption.

Five-Star Contributors

A lot has changed from topics discussed in the inaugural article (37 Predictions for 2016) to this year’s fifth annual edition (160 Predictions for 2020), but six people have been consistent in contributing their insights to this project all five years. A special thanks to Brian Fanzo, Jennifer Quinn, Mitch Jackson, Coach Jennie, Janine N. Truitt and Sue B. Zimmerman for jumping on board in the early days of Livestream Universe and coming through with predictions each and every year.

If 160 predictions aren’t enough or you are curious about what people had to say in other years, here are links to the previous 4 editions:

• 105 Predictions for 2019
• 91 Predictions for 2018
• 88 Predictions for 2017
• 37 Predictions for 2016

Bring on 2020!

What’s next for live streaming and digital broadcasting?

Will TV and radio integrate live chats to make their broadcasts as interactive as livestreams and social video premieres?

How will businesses take advantage of the opportunities provided by LinkedIn Live?

Will we continue to see the growth of internally-focused podcasts and livestreams from organizations?

Will big media, corporations and the entertainment industry squeeze out the independent podcaster?

What role should smart speakers play in content creators’ distribution plans?

How can independent creators monetize content on their own properties?

Will live streaming be used more often in private groups and behind paywalls?

Do I really need to pay attention to what’s happening on TikTok?

What will we be talking about heading into 2021?

Let’s get to the predictions!