Conference season shows video industry sharpening the focus on interactive content and AI tools

Cutting through the noise during conference season is always a challenge. But it becomes easier when comparing the mood and messaging from the previous year’s event. Sometimes a year is all it takes for companies to dial down the hype and take a more sober view on the latest technology trend. And sometimes it is the opposite: a trend which has been around for a while and is deserving of more attention comes to the fore with renewed vigour. 

This year’s International Broadcasting Convention (IBC2024) in Amsterdam had both. The latter focused on the audience demand for engagement and interactivity, while the former centred around AI’s impact on video. As part of the panel session ‘engaging audiences with new formats and experiences’, MIDiA explained why the video industry is stepping up its attempts to capture audience attention with lean-through experiences. Put simply, experiences which enable consumers to have a stake in the action by voting in polls and chatting with a community as opposed to just passively watching (lean-back viewing).

Accelerating lean-through behaviours

While the motivator for these behaviours may prove unsurprising, the extent to which consumers want to lean-through will have caught some industry leaders on the hop. Given that social media consumption is mainstream and lean-through engagement is hardwired into the social platform’s DNA, it is only natural that consumers will embrace lean-through opportunities in other areas, such as live sport or streaming TV. Not only did 65% of consumers use YouTube at least once a week in Q2 2024 (per MIDiA’s consumer survey), but 49% ‘liked’ a post, 37% commented, and 20% created using another creator’s sounds, images, or video clips during Q1 2024. When MIDiA delved deeper to understand what features consumers were willing to pay for on social platforms, it was those that supported lean-through engagement that came out on top. Aside from the 32% who would not pay for social, 23% said they would pay for upgraded editing tools, and 21% said they would pay for special tools to use with their own content.

This is all part of the consumerisation of creation driven by the smartphone, social platforms, and streamlined editing and graphic design tools. By lowering the barrier to entry around creation, more consumers are taking the opportunity to lean-through. This, coupled with the rise of AI creator tools, which will make creation even easier, is why MIDiA’s “State of the video creator economy” report predicts that the number of global video creators will rise by 15% from 364 million in 2024 to 420 million in 2025.

As a result, consumers will not only lean-through more, but they will be consuming more creator content. Take Gen Z consumption habits now, for example. According to YouTube’s Trends Survey tracking the viewing habits of Gen Z Americans, 66% agreed that they often spend more time watching content that discusses or unpacks something(creator content) than the thing itself (the initial IP). For many years, lean-through engagement felt like a bleeding edge behaviour for social media evangelists. But now these behaviours are breaking through into broadcast media as means of retaining viewers and adding value amid the battle for audience attention. To go deeper, click on the download the slides button to access my presentation and a video of the panel discussion with Christof Haslauer, chief executive of NativeWaves GmbH, Ed Abis, chief executive of Dizplai, and Oliver Lietz, chief executive of nanocosmos.

AI tools: a sober reality with practical promise

This sharpened focus on lean-through behaviours came as companies struck a more conservative tone around the impact of AI. For some, the race to create the most dynamic and all-encompassing large language model (LLM) has shifted towards making the most of the AI opportunity while avoiding ballooning costs. This shift was particularly apparent from infrastructure companies like MediaKind who have become AI agnostic by facilitating all LLMs with a focus on creating AI tools that solve specific workflow pain points. Meanwhile, Brightcove released a suite of tools that demonstrated how generative AI can be integrated into end-to-end creator workflows. These included AI Content Multiplier, which uses generative AI to automate time-consuming tasks such as auto-clipping, auto-summarization, and creating highlight reels from longer content. It will also provide an AI universal translator enabling companies to translate audio across 130 languages, and dub in more than 80 languages. These workflow solutions demonstrated how the industry was evolving from ‘what might be possible with AI’ to ‘what is practical’ (especially when it comes to optimising workflows). What IBC2024 amplified was how social and AI tools were poised to reshape the video industry in the coming months. Such change is preparing the ground for an even radical transformation as the deployment of AI gathers pace this year.

For more video creator economy analysis, including free infographics and details on how to access our market-leading creator surveys and video industry forecasts, click here.