The event had the lowest ratings of any Winter Games, bringing in an average of only 11.4 million viewers per night and creating a back-to-back Olympic letdown for broadcaster NBCUniversal after last year’s postponed Summer Games also reached historic lows.

Advertisers are still betting on the Olympics: The much anticipated, highly discussed games brought in 20% more TV ad sales in the US than their Rio predecessor.

On today's episode, we discuss what the most interesting areas of Amazon's business are, what longer videos mean for TikTok, why marketers should focus on Clubhouse and/or podcasts, why one company is bringing TV ads to console games, where Walmart beats Amazon, when we can expect to enjoy space tourism, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer director of forecasting Cindy Liu, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

It’s based on radiative cooling, in which Earth’s surface rapidly loses heat after the sun sets—a phenomenon that could be game-changing for sustainability. According to a recent study, the solar panel can absorb energy from the sun during the day and from dissipating heat at night, per SciTechDaily.

Earlier this year, during the Olympic Games, foreign visitors could use the CBDC, called e-CNY, at venues in Beijing and Zhangjiakou. The Bank of Russia is piloting a digital ruble program in partnership with 12 banks. Earlier this year, it reported that two partner banks had successfully completed a full cycle of digital ruble transfers through mobile banking applications.

Walmart is entering the game from a very powerful seat. It already has higher customer loyalty than other leading retailers and a large physical footprint of around 3,600 supercenters, per Insider. Plus, its affordable prices and one-stop-shop model could edge out competitors like VillageMD and CVS MinuteClinic.

The not-so super Super Bowl ratings: The game reported about a 5.5% drop in total viewership, but it still draws one of the largest audiences on traditional TV.

In our Thanksgiving episode, eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver and Nicole Perrin, junior analyst Blake Droesch, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna play our annual Thanksgiving game "Thankful/Not Thankful," determine how well Behind the Numbers listeners know us, and find out how people used to answer the telephone before they said "hello."

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom, vice president of forecasting Monica Peart and principal analyst Nicole Perrin discuss the latest revisions to our US ad spending forecasts. They then talk about Twitter sharing more information with advertisers, social distancing ads showing up in games and Microsoft's digital-only events commitment.

Business Insider Intelligence research analyst Daniel Keyes, eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Cindy Liu try their hands at playing a special, Amazon-themed game of "What's the Point?" where they discuss how the US House antitrust report affects Amazon, luxury brands on the platform, palm-print payment, all the new details about Prime Day 2020, and more.

eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and vice president of content studio Paul Verna discuss the best and worst Super Bowl ads and whether they achieved their marketing objectives. They also talk about how many people tuned in to the game, how much advertisers spent and the most popular halftime show ever. They then examine Quibi's launch campaign, solo TV viewing and how much returns are costing retail.

Despite the return of some sporting events like NBA exhibition games and the MLB, marketers are delaying their planned ad spend.

Not being able to experience live sports at this time, US adults are turning to other alternatives. While these choices vary from sports documentaries to esports competitions, recent data from Morning Consult found that US adults are just as interested in news coverage of the pandemic’s impact on sports as they are on the games themselves.

The coffee chain leading the mobile payments game

This can be achieved through gamification (including games to obtain discounts); access to promotions and deals; and information about product origin history and traceability, capabilities, or reviews. Adding a QR code to business cards, product packaging, brochures, print advertising, and direct mail can create another marketing touchpoint.

With luxury brands stepping up their ecommerce game, the pressure is on retailers and fashion marketplaces to find new ways to engage customers and make the purchase journey more seamless.

AstraZeneca is late to the digital health game: Its peers like Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Sanofi already have long-term digital health investments, namely in the digital therapeutics space. For example, Bayer invested in Huma in 2019—and it’s been a long-time investor in diabetes management startup One Drop.

These plans were quashed in October when Apple submitted an appeal in the Epic Games case, preventing alternative payments until the case’s resolution, which could last years. While Google no longer offers its own music streaming service, Apple Music competes directly with Spotify, which could further complicate any openness to alternative payment options.

Still, the Super Bowl was viewed as more of a surefire bet by NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast, which used the game as a platform to show off new measurement services to advertising partners.

The rights to broadcast the India Premier League (IPL) cricket games over the next five years are up for grabs, and giants like Disney and Amazon are getting ready to bid over $5.3 billion to secure them. Peacock is in talks to obtain broadcasting rights to stream some Major League Baseball (MLB) games. And HBO Max is getting into live sports as part of a new soccer deal, it was just announced.