SAN FRANCISCO—It’s impossible to look forward at the state of the media and entertainment media industry without taking a glance backward at the past year. And that view is one littered with debris: shutdowns, layoffs, regulatory stalemates, cancellations. 

It’s been a year of stops, starts, overhauls and renovations. But also hope and a reaffirming of what many have known for some time: Viewers are not only clamoring for more content, they also recognize that broadcast television remains a steady force when it comes to news in the midst of a crisis.

‘INTRINSIC VALUE’ 

“I believe the pandemic has confirmed and underscored the intrinsic value of traditional broadcast television and radio,” said Adonis Hoffman, CEO of The Advisory Counsel, LLC, a D.C.-based law firm. “We cannot even begin to count the number of messages, programs and the type of content that was devoted to information, education, coverage of the pandemic.” 

The head of the nation’s primary broadcasting association agreed. “I believe the past few months have served as a reminder to viewers about the enduring value of local broadcast TV,” said Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters. “From the pandemic to West Coast wildfires, nationwide protests about racial inequity to the 2020 elections, we have witnessed many historic newsworthy events over the last nine months that led to increased viewership of broadcast television.” 

In early March, the industry got a clear-eyed view of the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic impact would have when the NAB Show announced it was canceling the in-person portion of the 2020 annual Las Vegas gathering. The organization has canceled the show only one other time, during World War II. 

As the largest show in the industry, the annual NAB Show is a significant money maker for the association. In 2019, the show brought in revenue of $46 million as well as 90,000 visitors and more than 1,600 exhibitors. In an interview in March, Smith called cancellation of the 2020 show an “agonizing” decision. It not only impacted the 90,000 individuals that were expected to attend but cost untold amounts in missed networking connections—a vital reason why many in the industry attend the show in the first place. 

The organization scrapped calls to reschedule the convention for later in the year and instead put together an all-virtual event, the “NAB Show Express.” Looking ahead to 2021, NAB said more than 540 companies have contracted to exhibit at the NAB Show when it returns to Las Vegas, Oct. 9–13, 2021.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Entering a new year, it’s become clearer how significant an impact the coronavirus has had on the media business, be that on television, radio or streaming. 

“[The pandemic has had] an incredible impact on both TV and radio,” said Mark Fratrik, senior vice president and chief economist for BIA Kelsey. “Many different verticals have decreased their advertising spending by a considerable amount. Of course, the amazing amount of political advertising mitigated some of that. But many different leisure and entertainment verticals, e.g. movies, basically stopped advertising or cut back severely.”

According to an estimate by the research firm IBISWorld, M&E is forecast to see a decline of 6.7% due to halted content production. Growth that had been seen over the last few years—as broadcasters began shifting into digital distribution—bolstered revenue. But the coronavirus offset these trends, which led to a decrease in total ad spending in 2020 and halted production of new TV content for a time.

Nowhere was this felt more perhaps than in live sports. Ads run during National Football League games are typically the most expensive in the market due to their large audience share. But viewership dropped as the pandemic caused cancellations or postponements. According to The Wall Street Journal, a drop in ratings for the NFL led advertisers to drop advertising prices in 2020, an unheard of occurrence.

The NFL responded by negotiating to get the NFL Network on a larger array of OTT platforms this year, including YouTubeTV, Vidgo and fuboTV and making it available on smart TVs such as VIZIO’s SmartCast, which last month launched an exclusive specialty "NFL Channel."

2021 A TRANSITION YEAR?

Yet even without the annual convention and in the midst of a pandemic, progress across the industry has continued in several ways. Or as BIA Kelsey’s Fratrik said: “It will take some time for local TV to come back but by 2022, it should.” 

ATSC—which marked 2020 with the launch of consumer sets and station deployments— said that while many stations in the top 40 markets would deploy NextGen TV to viewers by the end of 2020, it revised that mile marker slightly to mid-2021. Deployments picked up steam by the end of the year though, with five markets launching in December alone, including its two largest markets, Seattle and Detroit. 

“I think we will continue to see the steady drumbeat of local TV stations launching NextGen TV service in markets across the country,” NAB's Smith predicted. ATSC has said that it expects NextGen TV to be deployed in more than 60 markets representing 70 percent of viewers by the middle of this year. 

Another bright spot came from the influx of political advertising dollars spent. 

Although local TV stations continue to feel the effect of new competition in both attracting audiences and in selling advertising, “the amazing amount of political advertising spent in 2020—and continuing until Jan. 5 in Georgia—shows the importance of local television in the local advertising marketplace,” Fratrik said. 

Other bright spots on the horizon include the rescheduled XXXII Summer Games to be held in July and August of 2021 in Tokyo. In 2011, NBC agreed to a $4.38 billion contract with the International Olympic Committee to broadcast the Olympic Games through the 2020 Summer Olympics, giving NBC rights to all media platforms including TV, internet and mobile. NBC and the IOC also agreed to a $7.75 billion extension to air the Olympics through the 2032 games. A recent article in Forbes reported that NBC had sold more than $1.25 billion in advertising for this year’s games, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the available ad space. 

That’s not to say there hasn’t been fallout. A study reported in Japan Times projected that postponing the games was predicted to reduce Japan’s annual gross domestic product by ¥7.8 trillion (USD $75 billion).

THE STRENGTH OF STREAMING

While the lack of such high-profile programming in 2020 was a significant downside, it’s hard to put a number on it, Fratrik said, as the U.S. economy was already in a downward slide and advertising plummeted in the early months. “Overall several billions of dollars were not spent by national and local advertisers as a result of the pandemic and the economic downfall and the lack of the Olympics,” he said. 

What has remained strong throughout 2020: direct-to-consumer streaming. Nielsen went so far as to say that the pandemic catapulted streaming to serve as the present—and perhaps the future—of content consumption. According to the August 2020 Nielsen Total Audience Report, streaming among OTT-capable homes accounted for 25% of the time that consumers spent watching TV. 

Legacy broadcasting companies are going all-in with streaming, perhaps best marked by the launch of VUit, a new OTT app developed by Syncbak, which aggregates local programming. Backed by Gray TV, Raycom and ViacomCBS, among others, the new service, which debuted in September, touts itself as the “Netflix of Live, Local and Free.”

“Large TV groups such as Tegna, Sinclair and Gray are heavily involved in providing local streaming services and selling advertising on those platforms,” Fratrik added.

Another way to put it: “The media industry is surprisingly optimistic given the totality of 2020 events,” said Josh Steinhour, an analyst with the research firm Devoncroft Partners “This is perhaps due to the near singular fascination of the industry and investor communities with direct-to-consumer subscriber counts.”

According to the Nielsen report, streaming comprised one-fourth of all television minutes viewed, led by Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon and Disney+. Nielsen also found that the pandemic is having a significant impact on news consumption. “As consumers are spending more time at home and in their local communities, the pandemic is causing a spike in local news reliance and consumption,” Nielsen said.

According to Peter Katsingris, senior vice president of Audience Insights at Nielsen, local news providers are showing they are dialed in to this new way that consumers are consuming news, and local news has responded by reaching consumers in an effective way.

“When it comes to the consumption of local news, we asked [in the survey] about genres of what they watched during the day [and] news was the top genre,” he said. “Local news is something that is really hitting home for… people who are impacted and working from home. They’re home and really [want to] have up-to-the minute information on what’s going on.”

Not surprisingly TV viewing soared in 2020. The October 2020 Nielsen Local Watch Report revealed overall weekly news viewing is up nearly one hour and 20 minutes when compared to September 2019. And the demographic of those who are watching is changing as well with news viewing by younger audiences aged 18–34 increasing by 134% from 2019 to 2020.

A report from the firm Research and Markets found that the M&E market is expected to stabilize and reach $133.7 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% through 2023.

‘TIL WE MEET AGAIN

What else lies ahead? The makeup of trade shows is certain to change, Steinhour said. “To my knowledge there is no data set in existence describing a negative impact to the industry from the lack of trade events in 2020,” he said. “We need global events to bring together the industry community. I do not claim to have the answer for how trade events will evolve, but I can say with confidence future shows will not resemble the 2019 vintage.” 

What the industry should look at now involves action outside of the U.S. According to Steinhour, several European countries have or are in the process of passing Netflix-type taxes. “These are taxes on revenue, levies, or in-country spending mandates on large, familiar U.S. digital companies,” he said. “Regardless of the structure of the tax, the intention is to protect local content production. This will happen everywhere.” 

Others point to the ongoing importance of improving diversity in the broadcast world and embracing the rollout of ATSC 3.0. 

And others, including the NAB’s Smith, said that the most important thing broadcasters can do is to meet with their legislators and explain how legislation, regulatory actions and judicial decisions affect the day-to-day operations of stations. “Members of Congress are aware of the influence local broadcasters have in their communities, and they want to hear from them,” he said. 

Fratrik added that all broadcasters need to remain aware of their local economic conditions as we head into 2021. “There is wide variation among the states as to the severity of the lockdowns, the impacts on employment, and thus, the level of advertising being spent,” he said. “There is significant hope that the distribution of the vaccine will lead to more states opening up. Local broadcasters need to monitor those events and plan accordingly.” 

WASHINGTON—2020 has been, to put it mildly, quite the year. The world shifted as it reacted to the coronavirus pandemic, and the broadcast industry was no different. However, there was more to 2020 than the impact that COVID-19 had, from the first deployments of the ATSC 3.0-based NextGen TV standard to other technological developments to business dealings.

Here’s a look back at the stories that mattered most to you, our readers, this year:

• ATSC 3.0 Deployments: When and Where NextGen TV Will Be Available
• The NAB Show Is Off for April
• Sinclair to Launch First ATSC 3.0 Station in Las Vegas on May 26 
• Grass Valley Acquired by Black Dragon Venture Capital 
• TV Technology's 'The Watch List' 2020
• Virtual Production Can Be Real For Everybody—Here’s How 
• Twenty 3.0 Consumer Receivers Coming in 2020, Says ATSC President 
• HDHomeRun ATSC 3.0 Receiver Kickstarter Launches 
• NextGen TV Receivers Not Ready for Consumers 
• MPEG Founder Declares 'Death' of Standard 
• Heroes Act Passes, Expands Available Aid to Local Broadcasters
• So, You're Anchoring the News From Home ... 
• FCC Votes to Promote Broadcast Internet via ATSC 3.0 
• Hurricane Laura Downs Two Towers in Louisiana 
• One Media’s ATSC 3.0 Smartphone Becomes a Reality 
• Pirating Streamed Content to Become Felony
• FCC Levies $48M Fine Against Sinclair
• Tegna Stations Blackout for DirecTV Customers
• 720p Is No Longer HD, According to YouTube
• Guinness Reveals the World's Most Popular TV Shows

Thank you for reading TV Technology. Happy holidays and we look forward to continuing to share all of the latest broadcast TV news with you in 2021. 

Who would have thought that we would end 2020 with accelerated entertainment and sports schedules, athletes, judges, contestants and TV crews wearing masks—along with virtually no audiences or spectators in venues? Here’s my assessment of what the past year has meant to our industry: 

THE GOOD

I really don’t mind empty seats with close shots of the athletes to disguise the fact there are few fans, but I do mind goofy cutouts that cover empty seats. My favorite shot of the baseball season was from the 2020 MLB World Series that Joe Carpenter mixed for Fox Sports. Not only did Carpenter have the biggest parabolic microphone I have ever seen behind home plate, but he had a total of three parabolic microphones: not just directly from behind home plate, but also one on the left and one on the right of home plate. Carpenter not only obstructed the prime viewing area of fans that were not there, but he delivered an engaging sound for the TV audience.

This was the season when audio proved to the many video skeptics the true importance of sound. It’s not that audio is 10% of the show and 90% of the problems; and it is certainly not that audio just follows video. When the sound of the fans and spectators are gone it seems the show really suffers.

As a retired road mixer, I fully understand that home time for many weary broadcast engineers, technicians, camera operators and the audio crew is often not enough. As my wife told me over 30 years ago, “You have it made. You don’t cook, clean or participate in the family.”

What an eye opener—I am still married to a very patient woman.

THE REALLY GOOD

It also seems that many audio professionals have spent some time expanding their audio chops. I have heard from and read about many “audio-ettes” who are spending some education time getting Audinate/Dante Certification and expanding their intercom and mixing desk skills.

More home and education time is a huge benefit to the crews, but for the last four to ve months, I have listened to baseball, basketball, hockey and football and truly believe that it sounds better with fewer people in the venues and sampled sounds.

One of the first times I tried synchronous playback was of pad crunches when I mixed a University of Georgia football game. How can you compete against close to 100,000 exuberant (mostly drunk) fans? The games I have listened to this season with perhaps up to 10,000 fans are dynamic, detailed and interesting for the home listener because you can hear the field along with a nice balance of the fans.

Clearly, the MLB World Series and most basketball coverage took the sound to a different level with alternative microphone placement and practices. For example, using the contact microphone under the floor could certainly lead to interesting Audio Tech Emmy nominations for the 2020 season.

THE BAD

It is hard to understand the lifestyle of the thousands of broadcast technicians in our industry. For the lucky number who can work out of a major sports city, a sport like baseball means 82 home games, which means employment for a large hometown crew (30 to 40 people) for 82 days.

With COVID-19, much of that income was gone for a shortened season. A regular home season for baseball and basketball is a luxury, but there are thousands more who travel to cover sports on a contract for weeks and months at a time, committed to cover college and professional football, basketball, golf, tennis, NASCAR and much more.

I heard from some of my freelance friends who experienced COVID-19 cancellations after being booked before the season had even started or was subsequently postponed, and I was told that many of the major sports networks paid freelancers for missed work—for awhile. The broadcast crew needs to have live sports competitions in order to earn a living. 

With COVID-19, much of that income was gone, but hopefully, only for a period of time.

THE NEW REALITY

What do drones, cameras and microphones have in common? They can all be controlled remotely. Is that bad or another significant paradigm shift? The pandemic accelerated a process that had already begun—remote production. I honestly am surprised that it had not happened sooner. For example, the latency gap is something that Dave Maza of NBC Sports has worked at since before the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Clearly, this season of sports broadcast has proven that remote operation works.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, executive management has seen fewer people in the control rooms and on-site in general, providing ample proof and months of experience that crewing and staffing can be changed. Workow and operator interfaces have been tested and proven and there has been improvement and refinement in all areas of remote operation.

Additionally, there is a broad interpretation of what the term “broadcast quality” has come to be defined along with an abundance of less expensive digital equipment that helps achieve amazing quality for marginal costs. I am astonished at what I have seen on the major networks and often surprised at the quality of many streaming productions. Quality production is only getting better and cheaper.

There is obviously a symbiotic relationship between all the skills that contribute to an Emmy Award-winning production, but job skills and content production have shifted as capture and production have become simplified and decentralized. From the directors, producers, commentators, camera operators, sound mixer, audio assist, stats, spotters and on and on, I advise you to keep one simple thing in mind as you look ahead to 2021... it’s all about entertainment.

Dennis Baxter has spent over 35 years in live broadcasting contributing to hundreds of live events including sound design for nine Olympic Games. He has earned multiple Emmy Awards and is the author of “A Practical Guide to Television Sound Engineering,” published in both English and Chinese. He is currently working on a book about immersive sound practices and production.

He can be reached at dbaxter@dennisbaxtersound.com or at www.dennisbaxtersound.com.

LONDON—We are in the final days of 2019, so what does the next year hold for the media industry? According to data insight and consultancy company Kantar, 2020 will bring about a “digital paradox” in the media industry.

Based off its “2020 Media Trends & Predictions” report, Kantar the ever increasing number of digital touchpoints, marketers and media owners will find it more difficult to connect with consumers. Among the contributing factors it goes into detail on are streaming, 5G and eSports.

Just in the last month consumers were given two new streaming services, Apple TV+ and Disney+. 2020 is set to see more with the debuts of HBOMax and Peacock. Local TV players are also beginning to create their own subscription-based services. However, all of this increased competition could create subscriber fatigue.

“We predict that the future of TV in 2020 and beyond will be the continued convergence of TV, including online streaming and video, with high-quality content at its heart,” wrote Sushmita Jain of Kantar. “Consumers will continue to use advertiser-funded and subscription-based services, but the ever-increasing amount of available content and platforms will lead to a paradox of choice; more is not always better. Overwhelmed consumers will become more discerning and focus their time on services with algorithms that provide the greatest enjoyment.”

In terms of 5G, consumers and companies are excited about the possibility. There are already 10 million 5G subscribers in China, which along with other markets with 5G (as of 2019 the U.S., U.K. and South Korea) are expected to see strong growth in the coming years. The rise of 5G will offer things like improved streaming without a Wi-Fi connection and support of IoT devices.

“However, there are also challenges,” said Kantar’s Paul Cha. “More devices mean there will be even more fragmented datasets to be integrated and consolidated, in order to gain a holistic consumer view for marketers.

“While 5G brings many more opportunities for marketers, it also means significant transformation, which isn’t going to be easy.”

Other points of interest covered in Kantar’s report include the rising popularity of eSports, shopvertising, audio advertising and the upcoming 2020 elections.

Kantar’s full report is available here.