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More nerding out over favorite shows. WarnerMedia and iHeartMedia have signed a deal to give fans of HBOMax programming more content about their favorite shows. Under the agreement iHeart will have first crack at producing companion podcasts for HBOMax original and legacy titles.
111-year-old discovers podcasts. Condé Nast has been publishing content since it launched Vogue in 1909. The media company recently announced it will soon unveil its own podcast network. Also new on the centenarian-corporation’s slate, new tools for advertisers.
“Old-dog” streamer learns new tricks. Founded in 2007, Hulu is one of the older video streaming services. Not satisfied to rest on laurels entering its teens, the platform is introducing a slate of new ad capabilities including enhanced targeting powered by Nielsen data.
Searching High … and Low
Here’s a first. For the first time since eMarketer began estimating ad revenues at Google, the search company’s net US digital ad revenues will decline in absolute terms. Rounding out the big-three tech ad platforms, Facebook and Amazon will continue to grow but at depressed rates compared with earlier expectations.
Down but certainly not out. Over last six months, Google still enjoys a commanding market share for search in the U.S. with about 88% share. Bing is a distant second place at 6.5%. Followed by Yahoo! at 3.6% and upstart DuckDuckGo at 1.35%.
Siri gets a makeover. The default voice assistant on Apple devices has gotten its first significant update in eight years. Siri handles about 25 billion requests per month and can provide answers from about twenty times the data it could access three years ago. Apple CarPlay also comes standard on about 97% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. making this search option one to watch in the mobile space.
Have a Sparkly Independence Day
A more subdued celebration for 2020. According to the National Retail Federation, this year, three-quarters (76%) of consumers plan to celebrate Independence Day, down from 86 percent in 2019. Despite the fact that fewer consumers plan to celebrate Independence Day this year, those who do have plans for the holiday expect to spend over $76 on average, which is in line with historical trends.
Up in smoke. Fireworks retailers say 2020 sales are up, more that 400% up by some accounts. That’s big business, especially considering that Americans spent about $1 Billion on consumer fireworks in 2019 according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. The APA also reports that, despite use being up, rate of injury is down. Let’s keep that trend going this year as well.
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