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Issue 01: Year in Review
Exploring the rise of streaming in the year of a global pandemic.
In 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns had us spending a lot more time at home. Workplaces were closed, events were cancelled and meeting up face-to-face became rare.
For many of us, we got through the most difficult months by streaming. From bingeing the latest series to watching gaming streams with friends, streaming allowed us to connect in what was a very lonely time.
While travel and F&B industries struggled to survive, streaming services thrived. Netflix’s record growth in 2020 saw it surpass 200 million subscribers.
It was also a pivotal year for gaming streams, with viewership across Twitch, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming all reaching new highs. New streaming services like HBO Max also launched during this period of time, cashing in on receptive audiences.
We streamed so much that we almost broke the Internet. During the initial surge, the EU even had to request for platforms to reduce their streaming quality in Europe to preserve bandwidth usage. 2020 was truly the year of the stream.
But just why did we stream so much?
With our world being turned upside down, streaming became one of the main ways we could get around the disruptions to our lives.
It became a way of maintaining normalcy in a time of constant upheaval and uncertainty. It allowed us to still do what we wanted, from watching movies with friends on Discord to picking up new skills on YouTube.
Streaming allowed us to continue work, leisure and social activities which had now transitioned online.
Bella Poarch lip-syncing to “M to the B” was the year’s most viral video, with over 500 million views.
hours watched
Sources: Digital Music News, The Verge (1), (2), (3)
Photo Credits: Dr_Awe_some, Jasmin_music
Hours watched almost tripled as people tuned in to live streams of animals and nature.
Hours watched quadrupled as musicians “quaranstreamed” gigs.
Top-ranked streamer Alodia Gosiengfiao’s 7 million followers watched her play games like Call of Duty: Warzone and Among Us.
We saw streaming grow exponentially as it became a part of the way we lived.
Yet, at a time when digital access is so crucial, connectivity cannot be taken for granted. Even in a technologically saturated society like Singapore, there is a digital divide.
in private condominiums and other apartments
in 1- and 2-room flats
This is a stark reminder that not everyone has the luxury of digital connectivity and there are those who continue to be excluded. As new ways of doing things shift online, the digital divide will only continue to widen if we do not do something about it.
For most of us, streaming helped meet our needs, allowing us to stay connected while in isolation. But streaming platforms had a big role to play in meeting this global surge in demand.
While they had a larger captive audience than ever before, they also personalised their content so that it met their users’ needs.
Find out how streaming platforms do this next, in “Personalisation”.
Source: Variety
