The Post-Peak Attention Economy What’s Next for Entertainment?

The 20,000 Foot View:  With only        hours in a day and an ever-growing number of entertainment services competing for consumer choice to spend them on, consumers have reached the limits of their available time – and therefore attention – to allocate to propositions across the digital market. As a result, businesses are being driven to vie for engagement, interest and spend which, if they do not win, can and will be allocated elsewhere. In a world where every spare moment has been opened to capitalisation by the advent and inundation of the mobile smartphone, there is no “free time” left for companies to cannibalise – only attention to be sought in the stead of a simultaneously-available other. As available attention grows ever smaller, it is crucial for businesses to consider a more holistic approach in understanding consumer behaviour across entertainment, instead of maintaining traditionally isolated views for music, video and games audiences. 

Key Findings

• Mass adoption of smartphones and the rise of app stores in the early 2000’s enabled an unprecedented rise in attention-seeking propositions (apps)
• The rise of        alongside music, video and (more recently) games streaming services has brought consumers to the limits of their allocable attention
• Companies used to compete for consumers’ available time. With no more time available, they have to unseat competitors to gain engagement
• In the peak attention economy everyone competes against one another, instead of isolated competition within separate entertainment verticals 
• The total size of the audience that can be effectively targeted by conventional digital advertising is shrinking, in both size and value
• At        TV and streaming video viewing capture over one third of consumers’ digital entertainment attention 
• At        hours, music is the second most consumed entertainment format in the attention economy
• Consumers who spend more than        per month on any type of entertainment are also more likely to spend        on other forms of entertainment compared to the consumer average
       of US consumers spend        or more on pay-TV every month, compared to        of high music and games spenders and        of high news spenders
• It is important to understand consumer behaviour across entertainment to identify the right methods and types of paywalls they are behind, in order to reach them 

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon, Amazon Prime Video,  Apex Legends, Apple, AT&T, Fortnite, Google, Netflix, PUBG, Snapchat, Spotify, Stranger Things, The Economist, TikTok, Warner Media