This report reviews our final 2020 numbers and new 2021 forecast for US time spent with media, highlighting pre- and post-pandemic estimates and expectations. Special attention is paid to TV, connected TV, OTT, digital audio, and social media.

Our new forecast for global mobile messaging app users shows that the pandemic has accelerated adoption of OTT messaging services, though not in every country nor to the same degree for every app.

Connected TV (CTV) advertising was a beneficiary of pandemic trends and remains one of digital advertising’s fastest-growing channels. Last year, linear TV decreased in importance to advertisers, as cord-cutting accelerated and more programmatic CTV inventory became available than ever before.

The pandemic led to lower TV ad spend and increased connected TV viewing this year. The shift in TV viewing means TV audience measurement gaps must be addressed to keep pace with how, what, and where consumers are watching TV.

The pandemic has brought an influx of new users for subscription OTT, live videos, and video games in 2020, but other activities such as social networking, mobile messaging, and digital video haven’t seen the same bump.

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated cord-cutting and boosted streaming video viewing.

Digital video viewership in the UK will continue to rise this year. The pandemic has provided a particularly significant impetus for subscription video-on-demand services, while connected TVs have become the consumption device of choice.

Pandemic-related stay-at-home mandates have accelerated OTT messaging app adoption in most parts of the world. In the US, however, alternative means of communicating, including Zoom and FaceTime, have hindered usage of OTT messaging services.

US advertisers increased their investments on digital media by almost 15% last year despite a pandemic and recession, looking for flexibility and accountability.

The TV upfronts look to bounce back in 2021 after a tough year resulting from disruptions wrought by the pandemic.

Digital gaming and viewership of gaming video content (GVC) has become more popular amid the pandemic. In 2021, some of this activity will see modest growth, while interest in other forms of gaming will taper off.

The pandemic accelerated the increase in time spent with mobile activities in the US. Most of these gains will stick as people return to a more normal life in 2021.

This report explores the impact the pandemic has had on our latest regional estimates and trends for total media, traditional media, digital, and mobile ad spending in six markets in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

A semblance of normalcy will return in 2021 after a media-saturated 2020, fueled by the pandemic. But while media time will reset somewhat this year, digital’s influence will continue to grow.

The pandemic led to many upward revisions of our UK digital user forecasts. Some changes (podcast listeners) will be permanent, while others will be temporary (digital gamers). Our social network user numbers, meanwhile, didn’t change much at all.

On today's episode, we discuss why Uber is trying to be a one-stop shop and how DoorDash outperformed Uber during the pandemic. We then talk about The New York Times' Q1 subscriber and revenue performance, NBCUniversal's thoughts on regional sports, and what stood out at this year's NewFronts. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom.

Last year, the average US adult spent more time per day with most media formats and devices, including TV. Although adults will spend nearly as much time with media this year, their TV viewing time will drop below pre-pandemic levels.

Before the pandemic, linear addressable TV ad spending was soaring in the US, with annual growth rates of 50.7% in 2018 and 36.5% in 2019. But that spending increased by just 7.3% in 2020, amid advertising budget cuts in the TV industry.

“As more inventory opened up on OTT, political advertisers jumped into the space,” Digilant’s Addonizio said. “What we saw was that the cheaper inventory, combined with restrictions on social, made dollars shift between the two.”. Overall, SSP SpotX reported more than a 900% increase in CTV and OTT political ad spending between April and September 2020. Part of that is, of course, due to the pandemic.

The pandemic accelerated payments industry digitization across the entire landscape, as merchants turned to ecommerce to keep doors open, consumers eschewed cash in favor of electronic and contactless payments, and payments technology providers rapidly developed and launched new solutions to keep up.