Watch parties Rebooting the watercooler moment

20,000 foot view: Group watching television with family and friends is being consigned to a bygone era. Algorithms are forcing entertainment consumers into silos through an endless stream of personally recommended content and the fallout is a relentless battle for audience engagement across a myriad of devices. Subscription video on demand services (SVOD) are eating linear TV, while SVOD is under siege from social video – and after decades of ruling household entertainment, the smartphone is dethroning the TV set. As a result, watercooler moments that define cultures and drive discovery through word of mouth are losing their potency outside of news and sport. Watch parties could provide a rear-guard offensive.

Key insights

• Linear television            become background viewing as nearly                       of smart- TV owners watch            while doing something else
• SVOD consumption            a focused activity for smart-TV            with            concentrating on the task,            to            who say it is            in the background
• However, SVOD            is splintered by devices and            demographics –            of            watched shows            movies on a smartphone during           
• SVOD engagement            also pressured by entertainment multi-tasking;            while engaging in digital expanded                       hours to            hours per week                       2021 and            2022
• Watch parties            fragmentation by targeting an engagement            spot. In                       of focused video            watched something they are a            of and            watched new content           
• Watch parties            make video ad-friendly by using            data for better performance –            binge viewers paid attention to            that were relevant to them