Ben Woods

Ben is a Creator Economy Analyst at MIDiA. He holds a BA in American literature with creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Before joining MIDiA, Ben spent 13 years as a journalist, where he won several industry awards. He previously worked as the tech and media correspondent for the Sunday Times and The Telegraph. His focus spans the creator tools industry, social video platforms, and streaming TV services. He is also a big video games and anime fan.

Year of change
Themes that will shape entertainment in 2023

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Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Ben Woods and Srishti Das
This report deep dives into the themes identified in MIDiA’s 2023 predictions report. These themes will drive innovation in the digital entertainment landscape in 2023 across music, video, games, audio, cultural trends, and the creator economy. Expect 2023 to be a of period significant disruption and innovation forced upon the digital entertainment industry, as nearly two decades of uninterrupted growth makes way for consumer-led disruption that is driven by a reduction in discretionary spending, attention, and willingness to make do with tired old formats.
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MIDiA Research video subscription forecasts 2023-2030
APAC to the fore

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Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Perry Gresham and Ben Woods
This report presents the key figures, trends, and drivers of MIDiA’s video streaming subscription forecast model. The revenue figures presented in this report are in billions of US dollars unless otherwise stated. An Excel file posted alongside this report provides complete region and country-level data, as well as a detailed methodology statement.
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2023 MIDiA predictions
Pivot point

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Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston, Perry Gresham, Samuel Griffin, Kazia Rothwell and Ben Woods
In this report, MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, games, marketing, audio and cultural trends in 2023 and beyond. Themes for 2023: Cost-of-living crunch: Entertainment spending will weaken, but some formats will fare better than others Perceived value will be king: As economic conditions worsen, consumers will seek out better value for money, not just ways to reduce spend The end of disruption: Following two decades of disruption, consumer tech is entering a ‘holding’ phase, accentuated by the economic downturn Scarcity revival: The post-lockdown thirst for ‘in real life’ (IRL) experiences will combine with digital fatigue to place a new premium on scarce, IRL experiences in 2023 Community repurposed: The value of community will come to the fore in 2023, as entertainment increasingly becomes scene-led The rise of the moment: The immediacy of ‘now’ will find its fullest expression in social and music fusion in 2023 The forking of culture: Cultural intermediaries will provide access to subscenes for larger audiences The authenticity crisis: In an era of replication, authenticity will stand out The decoupling of global distribution: A changing geo-political landscape is turning back the clock on a vision for global markets in entertainment.
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Video reports bundle
Available for a limited time

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Tim Mulligan and Ben Woods
This bundle contains three of our most recent video reports, providing you with a wide selection of insights and content from our analysts. Take this opportunity to get some of our most recent data at a discounted price. Friction TV:Addressing the user experience disconnect in streaming TV Streaming TV is now the default way to consume TV content.
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Can Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover trigger a revolution for creator pay?

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Ben Woods
Amid Twitter’s subscription turmoil, Elon Musk unveiled plans for a land grab on his social media rivals. The likes of YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch moved into his sights as he recently declared that he is preparing new financial incentives for creators to encourage the biggest influencers to take up residence on his newly acquired social media app.
min read
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Unlocking the saturation conundrum
Key video trends going into 2023

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Tim Mulligan, Hanna Kahlert, Samuel Griffin and Ben Woods
A key challenge confronting the video streaming landscape in the current attention inflation era is maintaining engagement. Up until now, video streaming has been fixated on growth. In a saturated marketplace buffeted by the cost-of-living crisis, the strategic focus has shifted towards retention both of in terms of subscribers for subscription video on demand (SVOD) and users for ad-support video on demand (AVOD).
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