#utsmw15 Infographics: Global Penetration & Use

Some slides from WeAreSocial.sg

AEJMC releases Press Freedom Report

AEJMC (Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication) has released a report on the recent Summit on Freedom of the Press in the Twenty-First Century, in advance of its annual meeting this week in Washington DC.
A copy of the report can be found on the AEJMC website.

Social Media Week Infographic: Texting Apps

From the Wall Street Journal - Global preferences for iPhone messaging apps.

For Media Use, Online tops off (Globally)

A major new study on media use from GlobalWebIndex (32,000 Internet users from 31 countries) has found that consumers spend more time with online media than is spent with more traditional (offline) media sources - at least in 23 of the 31 major media markets.  Globally, if one includes social media and mobile internet usage, 57% of daily media time is spent with online sources.  Traditional media use is highest in "mature" media markets, while online usage is highest in emerging areas such as UAE, China, Brazil, Turkey, and Malaysia.
  Before you read too much into these numbers, let me note that the sample, while large, is of Internet users only, and is not random.  Thus, you should exercise some care in generalizing from the results of this particular sample.

Other interesting findings include -

• TV remains the most popular media, with an average of about 2 1/2 hours of viewing daily.  TV viewing is highest in the U.S. (averaging 4.7 hours of daily viewing).
• News is the type of content most likely to be sourced online
• Japan and South Korea users spend the least total time on daily media consumption.
• Chinese users, on average, spent only 35% of daily media time with traditional (offline) media
• Globally, social media use accounts for nearly half (48%) of online media time.  Consumers in the Philippines reported spending an average of 5.4 hours a day with online social media.
• In some markets, mobile accounts for 30% of daily media use
• The vast majority of users report multitasking with other media while watching TV

It should also be no surprise that the shift to online sources is lead by younger users.

What is a bit of a surprise is that there seems to be a link between Social Engagement (measured via a Social Engagement Benchmark measure) and the amount of time spent consuming online media.  That's something worth exploring further.

Source -  Online time now exceeds offline media consumption globally, GlobalWebIndex press release

Infographic - Trust in Media

Edelman Trust Barometer 2012

Infographics: How Mobile Connects Globally

A couple of infographics, courtesy of Nielsen.

Sources -  How the Mobile Consumer Connects Around the Globe, NielsenWire

Milepost: Global Music Sales Actually Rise

On the heels of the news of iTunes' sales of songs surpassing 25 billion (6 Feb, 2013), comes a report that total global music sales actually increased in 2012 - the first increase since 1999.

  Global music industry trade group IFPI released their annual report earlier this week, showing a very modest increase in total sales revenues of 0.3%, to US$16.5 billion.  While the increase isn't huge, it is the first year-to-year gain seen in the 21st century.  In addition, while the industry has long blamed their decline on digital music, the latest report from the IFPI touts the growing contribution of digital music sector as the driving force behind the (hoped-for) recovery of the music industry.

“Digital is saving music,” said Edgar Berger, Sony Music’s international chief.

  The report puts annual growth of the digital music sector at 9 %, and being driven by a variety of revenue streams - sales of downloads, licensing to both subscription-based and advertising-based online streaming services, music video downloads and streaming.  In addition, there's been a huge increase in the expansion of digital music markets around the world.  While only 23 nations had viable (and legal) digital music marketplaces at the start of 2011, the end of 2012 saw more than a 100 nations where major digital music outlets operated.  Some quick supporting stats -

• Digital sources now account for more than a third of all global music sales.  Downloads currently account for 70% of the total.
• Licensed music streaming services saw a 44% increase in the number of subscribers.  The success of subscription music streaming services has opened up licensing fees as a major new revenue source for music labels.
• Social media is becoming an important channel for music promotion and fan engagement, as well as digital sales.
• Digital sources account for more than half of all revenues in a number of markets, including the U.S., India, Norway, and Sweden.
• Acceptance and use of digital music sources is expanding globally.  More than 100 countries have legal markets for digital music, and surveys suggest more than 60% of all Internet users have used a music subscription service in the previous six months - a number than jumps to 80% among young adults (16-24 age group).
• iTunes song sales generate about a quarter of all global music industry sales ($4.3 billion in sales generating $3.4 billion in licensing to music labels for 2012).

  The IFPI argues that this year's results, and the continuing expansion of digital music into markets around the globe, signal the return of the industry.  The report goes so far as to argue that digital music will be a major driver of the digital economy.

  It may be a bit early for for a victory lap.  The global total sales are still well below the industry's sales peak of $29 billion, as well as being well below revenues for other forms of media and digital gaming.  Still, it is a positive sign for an industry that's been having hard times.  I'm also glad to see the belated embrace of digital music and the range of new revenue streams it's been creating.

Sources -   History Shadows an Upbeat Music Sales Forecast, New York Times
IFPI publishes Digital Music Report 2013,  IFPI press release
Wednesday Apple Rumors: iTunes Music Revenue Up 10% in 2012,  Investorplace.com
IFPI Digital Music Report 2013, study report
The Digital Music Consumer - A Global Perspective, February 2013, slides for research report from Ipsos MediaCT

Infographic: Global Internet Map 2012

From TeleGeography, a map showing Internet connections (and capacity) among the countries of the world.

(There's also an interactive version where you can zoom in to look at various areas)

It may be a bit of a surprise initially, but they show International Bandwidth Growth rates slowing (falling to around 40% annual growth rate for the last year).  But that's partially the result of the fact that a lot of the basic international infrastructure has already been established, combined with the utilization of already-installed dark fiber.  (Fiber optic cables are installed in bundles - those that aren't immediately used for traffic are called "dark fiber" and are held in reserve to handle traffic as demand and utilization grow.  Thus growth doesn't necessarily require rebuilding whole networks).

They also show that despite the huge increases in traffic and network expansion, the prices for IP Transit Service (moving data across networks) continues to fall.

Sources - Global Internet Map, TeleGeography
Global Internet Geography, TeleGeography

EU Telecomms Continue Slide; The World, Better

  It's neither the best of times nor the worst of times for the telecomms sector in Europe - just continued disappointment.

  ETNO, the trade group for European telecomm firms, has released its third Annual Economic Report. And for the third straight year, total telecomm revenues have fallen.  Revenues in 2011 were 274,7 billion euros, down 1.5% from 2010 levels.  Fixed telephony (land lines) revenue fell 8%; mobile revenues dropped 0.6%; while revenues from broadband service gained 4% (although remaining a very small proportion of total revenues.  On top of that, the report indicated that investments in fixed and mobile sectors (infrastructure costs) increased 4.6 percent.  Europe also saw a significant drop in its share of global markets, from accounting for 31% of global revenues in 2010 to 25% in 2011.
  Much of the global shift is the result of gains posted in developing areas.  Telecomm firms in Africa are making inroads with mobile data, mobile gaming, and mobile-based money transfer services.  

Source - The way we were, telecoms.com

Global Ad Revs Forecast - TV Up, Overall Down

Dublin-based research firm Research and Markets is offering its forecast of global advertising revenues.  It sees total global advertising revenues, currently estimated at 340 billion Euros annually, will experience steady declines for the next four years - largely as a result of continuing transformational changes in media markets.
  Despite the overall declines, the firm forecasts growth in TV ad markets.  The report suggests that in 2016, global TV advertising revenues will be 21% higher, pay-TV revenues will be 12% higher, and public financing & licensing fees will increase 7%.  Some of that growth will come from continued expansion and improvements in TV ownership - 9.4% growth in TV households (passing 1.5 billion globally), with the share of digital TV households growing to 77.6% (both by 2016).  The report also suggest that the source mix for TV will continue to change, with cable and terrestrial services loosing market share to satellite and IPTV services.

Source -  Forecast: TV Ad Revs Growing, Overall Revs To Dip,  MediaDailyNews

Future Search

Roger Barnette has taken an interesting look at the future of search engines in a recent post on the Search Insider blog.  The post looks at a number of recent events that could foreshadow dramatic changes in the online search environment.
   First, recent reports from big online metrics firms ComScore and Hitwise showed small declines over the last year in use of traditional search engines.  There's always been some volatility in the use of specific search engines, as new entrants come into the field, existing search sites expand coverage and work on improving their search and selection engines.  In particular, the traditional big search sites have taken hits recently by the rise of non-English language search sites and the growing globalization of the Internet and the rise of niche search alternatives.
  One of those new entrants in the search market is likely to be Facebook, which has the corporate size to challenge the big search sites and has the niche potential of integrating Facebook likes and friends' preferences into its recommendation engine.  Another possible big entrant is Apple.  While Apple hasn't publicly announced its intent to enter search, it has made two big moves lately to internalize standard app features that had relied on external services.  With Apple's release of iOS6, it has dropped YouTube and GoogleMaps as standard included apps in favor of its own mobile apps.  When those moves were announced, many felt it was just a matter of time before Apple internalized search as well.  (However, Apple has since formally apologized to users for its troubled and buggy Maps app - which may have Apple reconsidering entry into mainstream search, or at least delaying announcement and implementation until they've developed a fully competitive option).
  Another major shift impacting search is the rapid growth in mobile, which has helped expand interest in, and use of, location-based and context-based searches.  Not only are mobile searches expanding the ability to search, studies are indicating that people use mobile search differently - much more of an emphasis on location-based searches, comparison-focused searches, and situational searches.  These can pose a challenge to legacy search engines to develop mobile-optimized applications, lest they lose market share to alternatives.
   Speaking of alternatives, niche search alternatives have also been on the rise.  There are, for now, two basic types of niche alternatives - one is the rise of content-specific search sites, the other are sites that aren't primarily designed for search, but incorporate search and recommendation engines. 
  The best examples of the latter are Amazon, and to some extent Netflix.  Both excel in terms of recommendations (tailoring search results to user preferences), and are comprehensive enough in their coverage to satisfy most search activity. As Barnette states, "When people skip over a search engine and go straight to Amazon for product search, it’s clear that either Amazon is doing something very right, or search engines need to improve their results."
   There seem to be two predominant types of niche search engines - language-based and content-hosting based.  Historically, Internet use and content has predominantly been English language based.  More recently, however, the proportion of English-language content has declined as Internet use has expanded globally.  While many of the large search sites developed sites and search engines in other languages, they've been challenged by native language search engines in many cases.  Native language search sites may be better equipped to capture nuances and differential preferences of local users/  In addition, users may feel more comfortable using native-language focused sites, or think that it would provide better results.  Recent years have also seen a rapid rise in focused content archives or hosting sites.   YouTube is the classic example - with its focus on videos and offer of free hosting, it's become the place to go for many users looking for video content.  But similar archives/hosting services exist for many fields of academic research, photographs, fan fiction, movie information and credits, and myriad other topics.  Users looking to search within those topics often will go to these niche search sites first - so they don't have to sort through the extraneous results a more general search engine would provide.

  Barnette suggests that all these factors suggest that the big general search sites will continue to experience erosion in their use - although that could be ameliorated somewhat by acquisition (such as Google's purchase of YouTube), developing their own niche search products, or optimizing applications for emerging search types (such as Bing's new search app optimized for mobile use).  As for "search marketers," volatility in the general search market is likely to keep the value of search sites for search marketers somewhat uncertain.  On the other hand, most search marketers are interested in reaching targeted users - and the fragmentation of search by niches, and the additional targeting opportunities offered by mobile, can be quite valuable in some cases.

  Search sites are starting to experience the evolution in audiences and market that all general-interest media are facing - where an increasing number of competitors start nibbling at the niches, and changing user interests and preferences will begin taking users to alternatives that better match their interests (if the dominant sites aren't nimble enough to provide their own alternatives and niches).  Internet sites and services aren't exempt from the general trend effects of the digital/telecom revolution.

Source -  The Future of Search,  SearchInsider

Broadband for the World - Still Too Costly

A new ITU (International Telecommunications Union) report argues that broadband services remain unaffordable for much of the world.

  Comparing the cost of broadband access to average national income, the study identified 19 countries where broadband cost exceeded average income, and another 30 where the cost of broadband access was greater than half of national average income.  In contrast, the price of broadband access amounted to less than 2% of national average income in 49 countries (mostly in the developed world).

  That's despite continuing and significant drops in the cost of broadband technologies and service.  The ITU reported broadband access prices in most areas fell more than 50% in the last two years, and mobile broadband access costs have fallen 22%.  In classic bureaucratic understatement, the report concludes that "huge discrepancies in affordability persist."

  The report's authors urge governments to further reduce broadband access costs through subsidies, improved competition and improved regulation - in support of the ITU's goal of having basic broadcast access costs fall below 5% of average income in all emerging markets by 2015.  Telecommunication costs have consistently fallen over time, and where allowed, newer technologies will naturally bring costs down as they replace older technologies.

  But the problem isn't just that broadband prices are too high. The real and more serious problem is the other side of the comparison - that national average income levels are too low.  However, that's both too big, and too impolitic, to be the focus of a short-term UN agency goal, so for now the ITU will stress efforts to reduce costs.

Source -  Broadband still unaffordable in many emerging markets, says ITU,  TelecomEngine
ITU Report - The State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion For All

Move towards Global IPTV Cloud

A new service, called PurpleCloud, aims to provide a Cloud-based broadband IPTV service to allow Asian and Indian broadcasters access to the North American, European, and Australian markets.

  The service is a joint venture of Octoshape (provider of cloud-based streaming technology) and video content delivery specialist PurpleStream.  The combination of the two companies' cloud and streaming management technologies should allow the PurpleCloud system to optimize streams to available bandwidth and user devices, allowing users to access streamed content on any Internet-enabled device without buffering. 

Offered as a managed service for broadcasters and OTT operators, PurpleCloud is intended to deliver "stable and dependable HD quality video streams to any device, any platform, in any geography at a fraction of the cost of current delivery services," the press release added.

The two primary delivery mechanisms for broadcasters seeking to reach international audiences are satellites and dedicated Internet-based channels - both of which can be prohibitively expensive for smaller channels and networks, or even leading networks from smaller markets (countries).  The service aims to continue adding content partners and is working on getting the PurpleCloud service added to SmartTV and OTT service bundles.  The next stage will be expansion into the live events broadcast market.

Source -  PurpleStream and Octoshape team to create PurpleCloud global IPTV service,  FierceIPTV

Instagram Gaining on Facebook

Distimo, an app analytics firm, has released a study showing that social networking apps are the fastest-growing category of mobile apps. Social apps on the iPhone, for example, have grown 193% over the last two years, compared to a 43% average growth for the top 100 popular apps.

  While Facebook still dominates, Distimo's definition of social apps includes a range of communication, media, and location-based services, and many of the new apps are gaining ground on Facebook, particularly outside the U.S.  Instagram has quickly grown to become the second most popular app globally - and last month it was the most downloaded app in the 10 largest markets the firm tracks.  In Asia, Line has replaced Facebook as the most downloaded app in Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore; WeChat dominates downloads in China and Hong Kong; and KakaoTalk was tops in Korea. Free calling service Viber surpassed Facebook as the most downloaded app in Spain and Australia.
  In addition, Ben Shachter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities shared some results of interviews with a panel of youg Facebook and Instagram users.  He found that they all became active Instagram users within the last year, and most indicated that while the still use Facebook, they expect to use it less in the future.  Part of that may be a result of a shift in their perception of the value of Facebook - less valued as direct social medium, while increasingly valued as an aggregator of all of their social connections.  Many also indicated that they were turned off by some of Facebook's newer features.  They found the Timeline feature, in particular,  too convoluted and "creepy."

Instagram was favored by the group as the best option “to capture a moment, highlights of my day,” and, counterintuitively, since most of their Facebook friends are not on the photo-sharing service. That suggests people are looking for ways to reach smaller groups of “real” friends, with females seemingly more drawn to Instagram than males. In addition to Instagram, people are also turning to social platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest, SnapChat, and Path as Facebook replacements.

As of July, Instragram had 22.7 million users - up 38% from the previous month.  It's got a ways to go to match Facebook's 955 million registered users (as of July), of whom 552 million log in daily.  And with Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, Facebook wins anyway.

Sources -  Rival Social Apps Chip At Facebook's Dominance,  OnlineMediaDaily
Instagram Gaining Griound on Facebook,  OnlineMediaDaily

New Web Index - Sweden, US, UK tops

The World Wide Web Foundation has released a major study of global Internet use.  The million-dollar study, funded by Google, used surveys and existing data from 61 countries around the world. 
The study evaluated countries' performance in three broad areas - Infrastructure, Content and Use, and political, economic, and social impact.  The study's being touted as an "unprecedented look at how Internet use and effectiveness vary across the globe."

  Sweden came out on top of the overall rankings, finishing among the top five in almost every measure (the exceptions were in Web Content and Use, due largely to the small amount of Web content in Swedish).  The U.S. dominated the Institutional Infrastructure and Content categories, but trailed a number of Northern European countries in terms of citizen use.  The U.K.'s performance largely mirrored that of the U.S., but with slightly lower rankings.
  The report found a strong correlation between Web Index rank and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita - no surprise there, as GDP is historically found to correlate with telecommunication and media measures.  Looking further, the study found strong GDP correlations with Infrastructure and use,  but only weak links with respect to impact and effectiveness.  That might be a reflection of how impact and effectiveness is measured by the study, which seems to hold up the concept of a collaborative, open, Web as the ideal that measures are compared to.

In the report, (Tim) Berners-Lee explicitly criticizes Internet use that violates open tenets: "When people go on social networking sites today, they often connect with … people who aren't very different from themselves. As a result, they can unknowingly demonize other cultures without even being aware of their own inhumanity."

The Foundation, in releasing the report, acknowledged that the data it relied on was sometimes incomplete, and that measures and methods may change in the future as the Web continues to evolve. It also hopes that this study, as well as future updates, can provide background data and insights that could inform current and future policy debates about the structure and operation of the Internet.

  As there are local and international political moves challenging the Internet's historic open and collaborative structure, I hope the Foundation's successful.  Regretably, I think that most of the current movements towards formalizing and revising Internet structures and operations are driven more by states seeking greater political power and control, rather than concerns over the social and economic benefits of an open Web.

Sources -  Sweden, U.S., U.K. Top First-Ever Web Index, Information Week
Web Index 2012 report, World Wide Web Foundation

Ad Revenues Recovering, Globally

A new report from WARC notes that advertising revenues are growing, both in the US and globally.  It reported that scores on it's monthly "Global Marketing Index" - which looks at what marketers intend to spend on advertising and promotion - showed increases in most global market areas.
  In the U.S., the index jumped 10%, from a level of 56.5 in January, to 62.9 in February.  The Asia index had a 2.6 point rise, to an February index mark of 56.0, and the European index gained 1.6 points, to 52.0.
  The increases are a welcome sign for media outlets dependent on advertising as their preeminent revenue source.

Source -  U.S. Leading Global Ad Recovery: Data Shows Europe, Asia Stabilizing,  MediaDailyNews

Consolidation in Global Telecomms

One of the things making it somewhat difficult to keep track of things is the fairly constant merger & acquisition (M&A) activity in media and communication fields.  Here's an article giving an overview of some of the major activity among global carriers (telephony/cell), and the differing motivations.  One major shift from the 1990s is that much of the activity seems to be centered around consolidation and potential for cost-cutting, rather than just increasing corporate size.