160 Predictions for 2020 -- The 5th Annual Livestream Universe Predictions for Digital Media

Live Streaming, Podcasting, Video Creation, Smart Speakers, Online Courses, Social Video Stories, Audio/Video Technology and More

When our first edition of the Livestream Universe predictions was published as 2015 turned to 2016, non-gaming live streaming primarily referred to one-to-many broadcasts on Periscope and multi-person talk shows and extended casual chats on Blab.

Niche creators within the live video universe also focused on solo content for Meerkat, which was losing the one-to-many race as Twitter purchased Periscope just prior to launching in 2015, while others stuck with dated-looking and somewhat confusing, but remarkably stable Google Plus Hangouts-On-Air, particularly for corporate broadcasts and podcast recordings, over the rush of early adopters joining the discovery-rich, audience-friendly, and intuitive, but unreliable Blab.

Heading into 2016, the industry was buzzing about the launch of Facebook Live and what it would mean for the other live video platforms, especially as Blab failed to successfully address stability issues, Meerkat was fading and Periscope was a minor player compared to the power of Facebook, with many broadcasters forced to rethink strategies that tied show branding and distribution to a single channel, as opposed to building an audience that would follow the creator to wherever they chose to broadcast.

Of course, once people saw the power and reach of live streaming on a major social network, the idea of returning to closed environments had less appeal. While those leaving Blab may have used other platforms to host their shows and bring on guests, the audience interaction on those platforms became secondary to the ability to send that stream to Facebook Live, which opened the possibility of reaching a vast network of friends and family on personal profiles and potential customers on business pages.

By 2017, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube all had added native live streaming capabilities, and in 2019 LinkedIn embarked on a Beta program for LinkedIn Live, requiring broadcasters to use third-party apps to connect to the premier business social network.

Streaming to leading social media websites became the top priority for most broadcasters, though brands have recently started rethinking that strategy as our predictions and sidebar articles indicate.

And while our focus is primarily on non-gaming live streaming, Twitch, backed by Amazon, is hugely popular with gamers and rapidly growing in use by non-gamers (75% of all live streaming happens on Twitch). What works on Twitch for audience growth, interaction and monetization will likely influence how all types of live content is created, and what features are added, on other platforms

Creator on Center Stage

2019 was the year the creator took center stage. With technical expertise no longer required to host professional looking live-streams, the talent, personality, knowledge and creativity of the host became the competitive differentiator in the content marketplace.

Those supporting the host, either on camera or behind the scenes, were valued as much, or more, for their roles in content development and delivery than sought out only for straight video production chops.

By far the biggest development enabling the focus on content has been the rapid rise of StreamYard, a live streaming studio in your browser that is both easy to use and delivers a professional-looking video to the viewer. (Full disclosure: I host a show sponsored by StreamYard. I was an enthusiastic StreamYard user prior to that arrangement.)

While Blab made it easy to host talk shows with multiple video feeds on screen simultaneously and BeLive showed us professional elements — such as shot switching, varied layouts, lower thirds, borders and sharing social comments on screen — could be available to the creators at all levels of technical experience, StreamYard developed a webRTC product that finally brings a level of stability that enables even enterprise streamers like Gallup and network television stars such as former NBC Dateline journalist Chris Hansen to make it their choice for live video production. Add up to 5 guests on a show and there is no decline in audio or video quality.

Telestream also lowered the barrier to entry for live streamers who want additional control of their camera and complete freedom when branding their broadcasts, offering Wirecast One this year to provide an entry-level and affordable option for new users that contains many of the same professional features of it’s award-winning Studio and Pro versions.

Skype for Content Creators, using NDI technology from NewTek, has simplified the process of bringing on guests when producing live shows with Wirecast, OBS or Ecamm Live.

Access and Ubiquity

Throughout 2019, viewers on social media craved content that provides access and a sense of exclusivity — behind-the-scenes mobile livestreams from speakers and entertainers getting ready to take the stage, tours of bustling urban centers, historic landmark visits and walks through conference expos, post-game video from the winning locker room, and Stories from creators sharing moments from their daily lives or dropping bite-sized nuggets of wisdom and inspiration.

Creators also realize they can greatly expand their reach by distributing their content across the many platforms where their audiences — established or desired — spend their time. More creators are multi-platform live streaming to reach viewers on the most popular social channels simultaneously. Switchboard Live and Restream have been popular multistreaming providers, while StreamYard successfully added a native restreaming capability to its offerings.

Repurposing has become as important — perhaps more important — to branding and reaching audiences than the live broadcast itself. From stripping the audio for distribution as a podcast across numerous directories — Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts being the essential starting points — to cutting up clips for different formats and lengths of time for uploading to YouTube, IGTV, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and writing blog posts with embedded media and show transcriptions, the post-broadcast workflow is no longer a nice-to-have option.

There are a variety of services, apps and businesses to help speed the process, and outsourcing post-production is becoming more common.

Audio Advancements

On the live audio production side, the RODECaster Pro was the talk of 2019 as it has made a simplified radio sound-board experience fun and available to the consumer with multi-track recording, 4 XLR microphone preamps, USB interface for live streaming, and buttons on-board for sound effects, audio clips and built-in processing options.

While Rode deserves much praise for developing the RODECaster Pro, the leader in this class remains Sound Devices’ MixPre series, which released a second generation of mixers/recorders/audio interfaces that, like the first generation MixPre line, offers sound quality not otherwise found at price points within the reach of solo creators. The MixPre’s durability, versatility and affordability astonish new users, who have made it the hub of their home studios and take it on video shoots, mobile podcast recordings and remote livestreams.

Both devices have the ability to function as recorders and audio interfaces simultaneously.

Podcasting Proliferates

As podcasting awareness and consumption continues to become more mainstream, major developments are shaking up the podcasting industry, starting with the purchase of Anchor and Gimlet Media by Spotify, which is pouring tens of millions of dollars into the medium as it’s best road to growing its user base. Spotify is second only to Apple Podcasts as the preferred app for podcast listening.

New standards for measuring consumption, along with corporations, big media and Hollywood moving into the space, will likely lead more brands to invest in podcast advertising. Dynamic ad insertion will become more common.

We are already seeing considerable growth in companies, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations developing podcasts geared toward communicating with internal stakeholders, in addition to the content created for marketing to customers and contributors.

Taking Back the Audience

As organic reach is hard to come by on many of the major social platforms, brands are taking back their audiences by creating environments for direct-to-consumer content distribution and social engagement on their own websites, OTT channels and apps. Media companies are going the OTT “plus” route adding their own apps with exclusive live or recorded content for subscribers: ESPN has ESPN+; Disney has Disney+; Food Network has Food Network Kitchen.

How will solo and small business creators find a way to follow this model for themselves? Perhaps it means re-focusing on driving traffic to their own websites to watch their videos and listen to their podcasts, rather than making social media platforms and multi-creator apps the preferred destinations for content consumption.

Five-Star Contributors

A lot has changed from topics discussed in the inaugural article (37 Predictions for 2016) to this year’s fifth annual edition (160 Predictions for 2020), but six people have been consistent in contributing their insights to this project all five years. A special thanks to Brian Fanzo, Jennifer Quinn, Mitch Jackson, Coach Jennie, Janine N. Truitt and Sue B. Zimmerman for jumping on board in the early days of Livestream Universe and coming through with predictions each and every year.

If 160 predictions aren’t enough or you are curious about what people had to say in other years, here are links to the previous 4 editions:

• 105 Predictions for 2019
• 91 Predictions for 2018
• 88 Predictions for 2017
• 37 Predictions for 2016

Bring on 2020!

What’s next for live streaming and digital broadcasting?

Will TV and radio integrate live chats to make their broadcasts as interactive as livestreams and social video premieres?

How will businesses take advantage of the opportunities provided by LinkedIn Live?

Will we continue to see the growth of internally-focused podcasts and livestreams from organizations?

Will big media, corporations and the entertainment industry squeeze out the independent podcaster?

What role should smart speakers play in content creators’ distribution plans?

How can independent creators monetize content on their own properties?

Will live streaming be used more often in private groups and behind paywalls?

Do I really need to pay attention to what’s happening on TikTok?

What will we be talking about heading into 2021?

Let’s get to the predictions!

The First 20 for 2020

Jon Burk

Brands realize that tethering Millennials and Gen Z (the oldest of which are now 24) means taking a stand on social issues that affect them. Whether it’s LGBTQ issues, the environment, gun measures, sustainability, animal welfare or equality, ignoring social causes may not be the best direction for a brand or startup. It is also paramount that the brands communicate this support in a way that is gently and creatively built upon first-person storytelling with a minimum of branding and shared within social channels where it makes sense. Being aggressively overt with this messaging can also backfire.

→ More 2020 insights from Jon Burk: Serving Content in a Brand-Centric Ecosystem

Winnie Sun

Live-streaming predictions:

Live-streaming will start to incorporate more seamless audience interaction.

Live-streaming will incorporate more audience-viewership insights for content creators.

Live-streaming will bring a tool more brands will use to reach their consumership directly.

Geige Vandentop

For many, live streaming will become the genesis of all other content. Savvy creators will turn each live stream into a podcast and clip out compelling segments to upload as static videos.

Jessika Phillips

I believe in 2020 brands are going to see a huge shift with online marketing and it will start with the dramatic rise of Dark Social conversations. Meaning more people are moving into private conversation channels. This is going to cause brands that haven’t already been focusing on Relationship Marketing techniques (to build/host their community conversations and create brand advocates) to either spend more on their pay to play model or dive into what is working (ie relationship marketing- focusing on belonging vs buying).

→ More 2020 insights from Jessika Phillips: Online Marketing in 2020: Speed, Personality & Heart

Mario Armstrong

My podcasting prediction: More brands will increase their ad spend on more contextually relevant podcasts in specific niches. Many publishers and some brands will try to bring some podcasting in house.

For online video, I think we will see more individuals trying to figure out how to do branded integrations in their video especially for Youtubers who can’t rely on their ad placements for revenue.

Judi Fox

Predicting in 2020 LinkedIn will release video playlist functionality. LinkedIn knows it is powerful for brands and companies to easily highlight past videos and content on the platform. LinkedIn is showing signs of adding video playlists by already adding a video content button to company pages during 4th quarter 2019. The video content on LinkedIn will be more accessible and evergreen when LinkedIn rolls out this function.

Matt Gielen

In 2020 the YouTube platform will change radically. Not so much from an audience or algorithmic perspective; but far more so from a business and platform perspective causing radical shifts in the industry. But all forests must burn from time to time and huge new growth is possible from the ashes.

Salma Jafri

The more interactive you can make your live videos, the better it will be for your brand, your audience and for the algorithm. Focus on building in an interactive element every 2-5 minutes into your stream.

Joel Pare

In regards to audio technology, I believe 2020 will be a year filled with 32-bit float point recording implementation by manufacturers as sound enthusiasts become aware of this incredible change in recording capability.

Michelle Levitt

I think 2020 will see the decline of influencers and the rise of experts across all media types.

Dan Pisarski

Mixer, YouTube and Facebook will begin to compete head-to-head with Twitch for dominance in the live streaming space. All 4 platforms will continue to branch out from video game streaming to broader types of live content.

Next, we start to see the “Twitch model” replicated elsewhere in the streaming, broadcast and entertainment world. For example. Chat as a “first class citizen” experience and even just some of the “Twitchisms” such as referring to users by their platform handle and referring to all of the people joining in chat in just an inclusive, community way like “hey chat.”

Third trend: As Amazon got larger and larger, all ecommerce experiences became defined by them as the yardstick (do you have reviews?, do you have user questions?, do you have a “customers also bought” section?) Twitch as the early live trendsetter will see many of its mainstays adopted as a similar yardstick.

Jennifer Crawford

Brands will feel increasing pressure to have a broad spectrum of content for accessibility and broader reach—that includes audio (Podcast & smart speaker), livestream, video, and written content. Because of this, content creators are going to need to outsource more than ever to virtual teams to ensure that the promotion and management of that content is engaging and consistent.

John Seibel

I might be in the minority with this opinion, yet I think there is a generational gap in the appetite for and the frequency of non-traditional video sources. I’m 49, and I think my generation needs to better understand the viewing habits of the generation after us. While my generation was brought up on traditional TV-delivered content, our kids are not. They are the “YouTuber” generation. They prefer to consume video much differently. Here’s the tough admission. We in the news business need to embrace this with more kid-friendly content, which includes the type of story/video we stream as well as the vehicle we use to distribute it, i.e., streaming bits on Facebook/YouTube and the like. To be honest, while I like engaging with viewers on Facebook Live, I tire of it quickly because it seems to easily get in the way of normal workflow, and it’s easy to find an excuse to just not do it. Myself and dinosaurs like me need to better understand and embrace the ever changing viewing habits of today’s consumer.

Viveka von Rosen

Easy to use, intuitive live-streaming platforms will definitely get an edge on the bulkier error ridden platforms of the past. Time to get crackin’!

→ More 2020 insights from Viveka von Rosen: LinkedIn Live: Keys to Success

Paul Richards

2020 will be the year that businesses finally join the fun and start live streaming fireside chats, thought leadership sessions, and live meetings. LinkedIn will come out of BETA and professional video productions and presentation on social media will be a staple in business marketing.

Dan Hughley

Specifically in podcasting, with the emergence of more and more products and services designed and built specifically for the medium, I believe we’re going to see a sound quality revolution. Content creators’ ears will become more trained to the difference between good and bad quality audio and they will strive to improve the sound of their shows. Podcasters will realize that there is no more need for the workarounds of yesterday and the removal of those barriers will set them free to produce high-resolution content.

Cynthia Bazin

In 2020, I believe that there is going to be an evolution of social media in which big brands make their outreach even more personal to their customers. With so much competition in the marketplace, there will be a drive to make customers be able to interact more with the brand leaders, making them feel that they are an important influencer. I believe this could happen through the evolution of interactive video platforms.

Nick Nimmin

It’s been amazing to see the explosion in online media over the last few years but the awesome part is that it keeps expanding. The buzz this year shifted from Facebook to YouTube and LinkedIn. Podcasts are also becoming a valuable asset for content creators and marketers. In 2020 I see no signs of it slowing down because technology to create any type of content is getting easier and content creation is becoming so “normal” that the fears people once had are being replaced by feeling of necessity if they want to continue to bring attention to their business.

Jessica Kupferman

More women. Women listeners, women producers, women editors, women’s content. Women are watching media and participating in social change – and slowly but surely, becoming more confident in their purpose and their medium. They are no longer content to hide and they are ready to be SEEN and HEARD!

Dave Jackson

Luminary will continue to get more investment money, but not achieve 5% of the market

You will see numerous Patreon competitors come onboard.

Apple will up their podcast game to try to hold on to their market share.

Podcast growth among Americans will grow by 8%, setting a new record for yearly growth.

Pandora will eventually open the flood gates and let all podcasters in.

More hardware will be designed specifically for podcasters.

Read 140 more predictions and additional insights for 2020 at Livestream Universe.