Blog: peak attention economy

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

The record label addiction to virality is about the attention recession, too

Cover image for The record label addiction to virality is about the attention recession, too

Tatiana Cirisano

26 May 2022

Content Creators

Creator economy

In a painfully-of-the-moment twist of irony, Halsey went viral on TikTok this week for speaking out about the pressure to do just that. “Basically I have a song that I love that I wanna release ASAP, but … my record company is saying that I can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok,” they said .

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Forget peak Netflix, this is the attention recession

Cover image for Forget peak Netflix, this is the attention recession

Mark Mulligan

20 Apr 2022

peak attention economy

Attention economy

Forget peak Netflix, this is the attention recession Netflix’s Q1 2022 results caused a stir, with subscriber numbers down by 0.2 million from one quarter earlier. Some are calling this ‘peak Netflix’, but this is not a Netflix-specific issue.

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The ‘attention recession’ just showed its teeth to Facebook – and took a $200bn bite

Cover image for The ‘attention recession’ just showed its teeth to Facebook – and took a $200bn bite

Karol Severin

3 Feb 2022

peak attention economy

For the first time in its 18-year existence, Meta reported a drop in daily active users from 1.930 billion to 1.929 billion. This is the ‘attention recession’ we at MIDiA have been warning about since Covid broke out.

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The sensationalisation of news comes head-to-head with Euro 2020

Cover image for The sensationalisation of news comes head-to-head with Euro 2020

Hanna Kahlert

17 Jun 2021

Less than a week in, and the coverage of Euro 2020 is off to a problematic start. Any big sports event taking place after a year of pandemic-induced lockdowns was bound to have its hitches. Yet few could have predicted the live coverage of an on-field cardiac arrest of a 29-year-old player.

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Six Nations Behind a Paywall: Can Rugby Afford to Bench Free-To-Air?

Cover image for Six Nations Behind a Paywall: Can Rugby Afford to Bench Free-To-Air?

Alistair Taylor

6 Mar 2020

consumption habits

Six Nations organisers are reportedly considering awarding the exclusive distribution rights for its annual competition to pay-TV operator Sky, in an unprecedented £300 ($384) million deal. Organisers have said they ‘would not rule anything out’ as the Rugby Paper reported the championship would go behind a paywall on Sky .

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Peacock Goes for Gold

Cover image for Peacock Goes for Gold

Alistair Taylor

23 Jan 2020

On the 16 th of January , Comcast (owner of NBCUniversal) unveiled further details of its direct to consumer (D2C) proposition, Peacock. Peacock is set to debut on the 15 th of April exclusively for Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex customers, before being rolled out nationally across the US on July 15 th .

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Disney+ Recovers From Initial Blunder to Surpass 10 Million Sign Ups on Debut!

Cover image for Disney+ Recovers From Initial Blunder to Surpass 10 Million Sign Ups on Debut!

Alistair Taylor

14 Nov 2019

21st Century Fox

all-encompassing offering

AppleTV+. Market saturation

Disney claims unexpected traffic on its newly-launched service was at fault for the buffering and technical issues of Disney+’s launch Tuesday . The issues highlight just how difficult it is transitioning from a media company to a tech player, with technical glitches an enormous issue for digital-native subscribers.

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How the D2C Revolution Might Accelerate an Impending Recession

Cover image for How the D2C Revolution Might Accelerate an Impending Recession

Tim Mulligan

30 Oct 2019

peak attention economy

Recessions are notoriously difficult to accurately predict, and the next global recession is still hovering on the edge of reality. The macro-economic view is increasingly gloomy, with the ongoing Brexit process in Europe being exacerbated by increasingly fraught trade disputes between the US and China – the world’s largest and second-largest consumer economies.

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Netflix Launches Mobile-Only Plan in Malaysia

Cover image for Netflix Launches Mobile-Only Plan in Malaysia

Amanda Stears

29 Oct 2019

advertising video on demand

Netflix unveiled its RM17 ($4) mobile-only subscription plan for Malaysia last week on October 24th. The official announcement marks the end of Netflix’s test launch since end of last year, trialling a cheaper mobile-only plan against its basic subscription price of RM33 ($8).

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YouTube Returns to Its Roots by Making Originals Free

Amanda Stears

30 Aug 2019

ad supported strategy

YouTube is shifting its original programming strategy by lifting the paywall for all of its original content. Since the rebranding of YouTube Premium in 2018, viewers can opt to pay for a monthly subscription fee of $11.

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Demographic cliff: Is gaming sports’ biggest problem?

Cover image for Demographic cliff: Is gaming sports’ biggest problem?

Alistair Taylor

14 Aug 2019

daily active usage

Is the peaking attention economy the underlying cause for the decline in sports consumption from the younger demographic, or is it the mediums through which rights holders are distributing sports content ? MIDiA argues… both.

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Not So Galactico; What Went Wrong for La Liga?

Cover image for Not So Galactico; What Went Wrong for La Liga?

Alistair Taylor

7 Aug 2019

addressable audience

broadcast deals

carriage partnerships

Joris Evers, La Liga’s head of communications, confirmed last week that the rights holder has withdrawn its tender for broadcast rights to Spanish soccer’s premier league in the UK and Ireland after failing to receive any acceptable bids, due by the 25 th July .

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Is YouTube MLB’s Answer to Tap into Younger Audience?

Cover image for Is YouTube MLB’s Answer to Tap into Younger Audience?

Alistair Taylor

29 Jul 2019

cable consumption

On July 18 th , Google-owned YouTube livestreamed the first of its exclusive Major League Baseball (MLB) matches, acquired through a partnership announced with the MLB at the end of April 2019 . YouTube’s first exclusive live game distribution deal with the MLB covers 13 games during the second half of the MLB’s 2019 regular season.

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Privacy Concerns and Digital Advertisers: Why Brands That Demand Attention Will Lose out in the Post-Peak Shift of the Attention Economy

Hanna Kahlert

16 Jul 2019

attention economy peak

digital marketer

digital marketing

Mid-2019 sees the digital market mid-quagmire. The saturation of the attention economy is driving further and further competition between brands to create propositions that can stand out enough to earn adoption, in a market where overwhelming choice vastly outweighs the total adoption potential of consumers.

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Is Pay-TV killing off Niche Sports?

Cover image for Is Pay-TV killing off Niche Sports?

Alistair Taylor

4 Jul 2019

With both the ICC Cricket World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup approaching their climaxes, the stark difference in audience engagement raises the question, is pay-TV killing off niche sports? Deciding the medium through which to distribute live sports has never been more crucial.

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Netflix is Now Running Faster to Stand Still

Cover image for Netflix is Now Running Faster to Stand Still

Tim Mulligan

7 Mar 2019

peak attention economy

streaming peaks

If a week is a long time in politics what must three years be in streaming video? In the case of Netflix, it turns out not a lot…in one key metric- domestic engagement. On other metrics Netflix has been surging ahead.

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Why Revenue Growth Alone Is Not Enough For The Games Industry

Cover image for Why Revenue Growth Alone Is Not Enough For The Games Industry

Karol Severin

4 Jan 2019

games engagement

UK games revenues rose to $4.9 billion in 2018, surpassing music and video revenues combined. It is an impressive milestone, but it doesn't mean the best is yet to come. Revenues are what keep the lights on, but they are not always the best measure of the health of a sector.

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Sky Shows Hand With Bid For Scottish Football TV Rights

Alistair Taylor

12 Nov 2018

broadcast rights

Sky sports has doubled down on UK football and is the firm favourite to acquire the exclusive rights to broadcast Scottish football (SPFL), having bid £100 million for the next block of rights, starting in 2021 .

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