Media Moments 2022: A Snapshot of the Media Market | What’s new in the Edition
A snapshot of a media market grappling with uncertainty, including advertising’s transition from boom to bust, the emergence of a sense of realism in the subscription space, and the increasing importance of climate coverage.
Media Moments 2022 is the fifth annual media market review from the Media Voices Podcast, and provides a snapshot of a media market struggling with the pressures of a global economic downturn and the continued evolution of publishing technology.
Advertising
The sense of relief enjoyed by publishing markets at the start of 2022 was short-lived. While the 2021 rate of return was warmly welcomed – the IAB reported Largest year-over-year increase in advertising revenue since 2006 – fears about the future spread with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
Big Tech players missed their targets and growth forecasts were scaled back again 5.9% for the year. Bucking the trend, Amazon posted 25% growth and Tik Tok reported an impressive $4 billion in revenue. On the back of privacy changes that have cut off third-party ads on its platforms, Apple reportedly aimed $4 billion in annual advertising revenue.
subscription
Growth continued in subscription revenue, but publishers worried that economic pressure on household incomes would force a shakeout of subscriptions. INMA reported that cancellations increased compared to 2021 and market confidence took a hit when Netflix reported the loss of 1 million subscribers in the second quarter of the year.
Despite the pessimism, several major publishers posted record subscription results. The New York Times, The Economist and Defector saw significant gains. All have based their success on unique, reliable, quality content and, looking forward, publishers want grow their own Readership revenue should focus on targeted messaging, competitive pricing and a differentiated content offering.
Audio
No publishing channel grew faster than digital audio in 2022. Advertising spending in the sector grew nearly 58%, reaching $4.9 billion, according to the IAB. However, there has also been a welcome sense of reality creeping into the podcast edition. Looking beyond the scale claimed by very few mainstream podcasts, niche shows are tapping into a small number of highly engaged listeners to generate advertising revenue and to support subscription sales.
Newsletters
This year has been the year of newsletter ‘normalization’, when every major publisher realized this email is a critical component of their editorial strategy. Newsletters are being positioned as a counter to the ‘fire’ of social media, with convenience listed by consumers as the most attractive feature of the format. Audience insights and first-party data are key benefits for publishers.
Climate coverage
Covering the climate crisis is becoming increasingly important for publishers. Concerns about the impact of rising temperatures are driving audience engagement, which in turn is driving more subscriptions. As more brands work to connect with positive climate action, advertising revenue is also expected to increase. The growing interest has seen publishers invest in specialized staff to cover the climate brief, or encouraging all staff to include an environmental element in their work.
Other chapters from Media Moments 2022 look at changes in the broadcast market where streaming has overtaken traditional distribution; a more optimistic outlook for local news publishers; and the problem of news avoidance and declining trust in news, globally.
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This piece was originally published in Thorny trends and reprinted with permission. Spiny Trends is a division of Prickly.he, a content analytics and revenue generation platform for digital publishers. For weekly industry news updates and analysis you need as a media and publishing business, subscribe to Spiny’s Trends weekly email digest here.