Augmented reality (AR) is becoming more widely available on social platforms. It’s mainly been a tool for entertainment and brand awareness, but the pandemic is pushing marketers to explore new use cases.

On today's episode, we discuss some digital audio developments from Spotify and iHeartMedia, how podcast advertising can add value, in-car audio entertainment, and what the first flavor of advertising on social audio platforms will look like. We then talk about what to expect from this years' Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Podcast Upfronts, how people are approaching podcast moderation, and the market for podcasts created for children. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle.

The return of live sports produced a flurry of licensing activity from broadcast networks and streaming services—including digital video, social, and ecommerce platforms. It also reignited concerns about the sustainability of pricing models for sports video and TV.

But so far, it has not secured licensing deals with big names like Universal Music Group (UMG), Warner Music Group (WMG), or Sony Music Entertainment. What’s the catch? While the deal with the NMPA is a step forward, it’s not actually a licensing deal, and it doesn’t give creators any more access to music.

According to new data from Variety Intelligence Platform’s “The Demographic Divide” report, network TV viewership is still within the purview of older generations, but time spent with entertainment overall goes up among younger cohorts. According to survey findings, viewers ages 60 and up said they spend 29% of their time with entertainment watching network TV.

The coronavirus pandemic is changing how people interact, and mobile devices have served as a social and entertainment lifeline as Americans stay at home and practice social distancing measures. This report looks at how US adults are using those devices.

The number of social network AR users continues to grow, and social networks are moving to offer more useful applications. They’re working to capitalize on more monetizable shopping, branding, and entertainment experiences. The rollout of 5G wireless networks will be a boon for XR applications.

Social entertainment is here to stay. With the dramatic rise of TikTok, along with the growing number of traditional social platforms and standalone apps in this space, we are convinced that short, user-generated videos will be a lasting part of the social media landscape, particularly for organic and influencer marketing, paid advertising, and social commerce.

But since memes also tap into several of the trends that the pandemic has accelerated—from the growth in user-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing, to “making social media fun again” through social entertainment—it’s likely that memes will continue to flood many social feeds in 2021 and beyond.

For the first time, we have published our TikTok user forecast for Mexico, one of the hardest-hit countries by the pandemic. As people there stayed home more in 2020, many turned to the internet for entertainment, and the number of monthly TikTok users surged 222.5% year over year, according to our estimates.

In this year’s “Key Digital Trends” report, we examine changes coming to the digital media and technology landscape in 2021—including legislation, privacy, entertainment, social media, and more—and why they matter to marketers.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst Jasmine Enberg, and junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch discuss what they're paying attention to in 2021, and why: the rise of social entertainment, WhatsApp's next move, and stalling social commerce.

eMarketer senior analyst Jasmine Enberg and junior analyst Blake Droesch discuss one thing that summed up 2019 for each of them, as well as some of their predictions for 2020, focusing on social entertainment.

Given the huge growth of TikTok this year, as well as the launch of Instagram’s Reels, YouTube’s Shorts, Snapchat’s Spotlight, Triller, and other apps that mimic TikTok, we can now say that social entertainment has not only stuck around, it is the future of social content and communication.

Pluto TV also devoted a sizable portion of its digital budget (24.3%) to social ads between January 2019 and July 2020. In terms of desktop/laptop advertising, the media industry will decrease its spending by 7.5% to $2.57 billion in 2020. The entertainment industry will see a more significant decline in desktop/laptop spending, decreasing by 17.5% to $1.51 billion this year.

As the first true generation of digital natives, Gen Z has had round-the-clock access to on-demand information, streaming entertainment, and instantaneous communication since birth. This report examines trends in Gen Z’s technology and media use.

The pandemic has caused the US automotive industry to reduce its digital ad spending by 18.2% in 2020. As car sales plummeted, dealerships closed, and manufacturing slowed, marketers backed off from performance initiatives and focused on branding efforts.

Extended reality (XR) technologies are still mostly related to gaming, entertainment, and social media, but their applications are evolving quickly as more consumers and businesses test out immersive experiences.

That’s trickled down to increased investments in video, both on social and connected TV (CTV). While display will make up 50.7% of ad dollars spent in financial services, that’s still lower than the percentage of total ad dollars that go to display (55.6%). Search. US financial services companies will spend $9.01 billion on search advertising in 2020, up 9.1% year over year.

Social Entertainment Is a Bona Fide Trend. Social entertainment is here to stay. With the dramatic rise of TikTok, along with the growing number of traditional social platforms and standalone apps in this space, we are convinced that short, user-generated videos will be a lasting part of the social media landscape. Here’s why. The Audience Is Growing.