PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020–2024 says the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated and amplified ongoing shifts in consumer behaviour, in some cases pulling forward digital disruption to a level that wouldn’t have been seen for many years. With the pandemic and social distancing intensifying digitalization, the report says over-the-top (OTT) video has seen a global revenue surge of 26.0% in 2020. It expects OTT revenue to double in size from US$46.4B in 2019 to US$86.8B in 2024. PwC also says global data consumption is another beneficiary of the digital acceleration, jumping by 33.8% in 2020, and projected to more than double from 1.9 quadrillion megabytes (MB) in 2019 to 4.9 quadrillion MB in 2024.
The Canada Media Fund (CMF) is making $10M available to interactive digital media companies. The funding is part of the $27.8M designated for the Canadian audiovisual sector as part of Phase 2 of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations. It’s being made available to applicants who haven’t previously received COVID-19 emergency support from the CMF Allocation. Click here to access eligibility criteria and here to apply by Sept. 25.
Bell Media is expanding MTV content in Canada to additional platforms, including Crave in both English and French, and later this fall everywhere CTV on-demand content can be found. Beginning this week, more than 500 episodes from the MTV library, including shows like The Hills, Pimp My Ride, and MTV Unplugged, are available to Crave subscribers. Later this fall, dozens of additional titles will roll out with current series like Teen Mom 2, 16 and Recovering, and the new season of Ghosted, to become available after their broadcast run on the MTV linear channel.
FloSports is exclusively broadcasting the 2020 Tour de France in Canada. The event is being broadcast in Canada on cycling-dedicated streaming platform, FloBikes, marking the first time the Tour de France is available on a digital-only OTT platform in Canada. Featuring on-location reporting, on-camera commentary and analysis, as well as a concurrent French-language broadcast and live in-app watch parties, a new fantasy league is also available to FloSports subscribers in both Canada and the U.S.
