NBC has almost sold out of TV ad spots for Super Bowl 2022

"The 2021 NFL season hasn’t even begun yet, and NBC is almost finished with its ad sales for Super Bowl 56—more than five months before the game will take place.

“As of today, we only have a few units left, and we’re purposely holding them back,” Dan Lovinger, evp, advertising sales, NBC Sports Group, told reporters this afternoon during a press briefing. The pregame show is also “extremely well sold,” he added.

Lovinger said the company has sold its most recent Super Bowl units for as much as $6.5 million per 30-second spot, and secured a matching investment across “other high-profile NBCU properties,” including the Winter Olympics, which will also be in February, at the same time as Super Bowl 56 on Feb. 13."

Source:  AdWeek, 8th September 2021

AMC cinema chain's box office receipts were higher in Labor Day 2021 than in 2019

 "AMC Entertainment broke its Labor Day weekend admissions record, thanks in large part to the $90 million raked in by Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which drew the lion’s share of the two million moviegoers during the four-day weekend from Sept. 2-5, according to a CNBC report.

This is the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that 2021 attendance was higher than the same weekend in 2019.

“This encouraging surge in attendance at AMC signals that as Hollywood releases movies, Americans eagerly want to return to movie theatres again,” said CEO Adam Aron in a statement on Tuesday (Sept. 7).

“Shang-Chi” raked in $71.4 million in ticket sales from Sept. 3-5, the second-highest opening during the coronavirus outbreak, trailing only “Black Widow,” which saw $80 million in sales in July. The $90 million-plus brought in by the new Marvel hero movie is almost triple the previous Labor Day weekend record set by “Halloween” in 2007 ($30.6 million)."

Source:  PYMNTS, 7th September 2021

Amazon 'is operating 164 freight flights a day in the US'

 "More than 70% of the U.S. population lives within 100 miles of an airport where Amazon Air or one of its partner airlines operates

[...]

Last month, Amazon opened its $1.5 billion “superhub” at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which spans 600 acres and features an 800,000-square-foot robotic sort center, where packages are sorted by zip code and consolidated into trucks before delivery. The hub could handle up to 200 flights a day.

Amazon flight activity has increased 17% over the past six months to an average of 164 flights per day, DePaul researchers said. The researchers predicted Amazon will expand its flight operations by another 12-14%, bringing its daily total to more than 180 by January of next year."

Source:  CNBC, 4th September 2021

Amazon is adding eleven planes to its delivery fleet in 2021 & 2022

" Today, Amazon announced its first-ever purchase of eleven Boeing 767-300 aircraft, expanding its fleet to continue to serve customers. The purchases include seven aircraft from Delta and four aircraft from WestJet, which will join the network by 2022. Amazon Air’s fleet expansion comes at a time when customers are relying on fast, free shipping more than ever."

Source:  Press Release from Amazon, 5th January 2021

UPS 'expects nearly 9m returns' in the first week of 2021

 "UPS expects to induct 1.75 million returns into its system every day this week, which would represent the highest weekly total of returns in the carrier's history, a spokesperson told sister publication Supply Chain Dive via email.

The expected 8.75 million returns this week is a 23% increase over the highest week of returns for the 2019-2020 holiday season.

The carrier's single-day record is 1.9 million returns — set Jan. 2, 2020."

Source:  Retail Dive, 7th January 2021

5.5m US households experience identity theft each year

 "New consumer research from Parks Associates finds 5% of US broadband households annually experience identity theft, which equates to 5.5 million households affected and at least 6.6 million people. Identity theft ranks as the top data security or privacy concern, cited by over half of all US broadband households."

Source:  Parks Associates, 30th September 2020

TikTok has over 50m daily active users in the US

 "TikTok, in its lawsuit challenging a ban by the President Donald Trump administration, revealed its monthly users have grown almost 800 percent since January 2018, CNBC reported.

Back then, the app was used by around 11 million Americans, according to CNBC. Then a year later, that number more than doubled as TikTok reported 27 million monthly users.

And finally, by this year, the app was averaging 91 million users per month, with over 100 million by the time the pandemic had set in and was keeping Americans at home, and over 50 million who use the app every day, according to CNBC.

Globally, the app has seen an equivalent spike, with 55 million in January 2018 increasing to 689 million by July 2020, CNBC reported."

Source:  PYMNTS, reporting data from CNBC, 24th August 2020

What households bought during the lockdown

 "In the 13 weeks ending June 27, 1 million more coffee and espresso makers sold and half a million more electric grills and griddles sold compared to the same period last year, according to NPD Group data. Additionally, single-serve blending and processing products saw a 41% increase in unit sales during the period. 

"We've seen it in other recessions, we also saw it after 9/11, that people kind of hunker down and leftovers become critical … making sure that I don't have any food waste," Derochowski said. "So when you think of leftover friendly dishes, there are a lot of your one-dish meals and things that can be made, whether it's [with] a multi cooker or slow cooker or casserole dish or something like this. Those have done well because people are making leftover-oriented foods.""

Source:  Data from NPD, reported by Retail Dive, 18th August 2020

Peacock has more than 10m subscribers

"Peacock, the latest major entrant to the streaming video universe, has added more than 10 million signups since its launch. Comcast, the owner of NBC News and Peacock's parent NBCUniversal, revealed Thursday as part of its second-quarter earnings.

“People are watching more frequently and for much longer than we projected,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said on a call with analysts.

The news underscores the high interest in at-home entertainment at a time when consumers are staying home and movie theaters in most regions are closed."

Source:  NBC News, 30th July 2020

25% of US households have a subscription to Disney+

Source:  Data from Parks Associates, reported 29th May 2020

The US was the top spending market for AVOD in 2019

Top five countries by AVoD expenditure ($ million)
Ranking Country 2019
1 USA 7,998
2 China 6,777
3 United Kingdom 1,620
4 Japan 1,611 4
5 India 632 5

Source:  Digital TV Research, quoted in Advanced Television, 1st June 2020

36% of US workers have participated in the gig economy

"A quick glance at the workforce of 2020 doesn’t immediately present itself as all that different from the workforce of the year 2000.
The major professions remain the same — doctors, lawyers, bankers, accountants, stock brokers, academics, teachers, consultants, software programmers, etc. The trades are mostly familiar — electrical, carpentry, plumbing, welding, etc. There are still retail clerks and waiters; tailors and dry cleaners; drivers and warehouse workers — just as there were when the 21st century got off the ground.
But quick glances can be deceiving, and in the case of the 21st century, it is not only fair to say we aren’t looking at the same workforce as 20 years ago, but also, we aren’t even laboring in the same workforce of a decade ago.
That’s because a decade ago, the gig economy was still in its nascent stages. Today, it’s a bona fide influence unto itself in the labor force. According to the latest edition of the Gig Economy Tracker, PYMNTS found that 42 percent of U.S. workers will engage in some form of freelance work this year, 36 percent have participated in the gig economy and, by the end of this year, there will be an estimated 42 million workers active in the U.S. gig economy."

Source:  PYMNTS, 27th February 2020

Streaming accounts for 80% of US recorded music revenues

"US recorded music revenues grew by 13% year-on-year to $11.1 billion (£8.6bn) at retail value in 2019. It’s the fourth year in a row of double-digit growth.
Americans streamed 1.5 trillion songs during the year, according to the RIAA.
Streaming now accounts for 79.5% of all recorded music revenues, following last year’s 19.9% year-on-year increase to $8.8bn (£6.8bn).
The market increase was driven by subscription streaming in the world’s largest music market. Total subscription revenues of $6.8bn (£5.3bn) were up 25% compared to 2018. Premium streaming now accounts for 61% of all revenues.
One statistic jumps out of the RIAA report: the streaming market alone in 2019 was larger than the entire US recorded music market in 2017.
Subscription services were responsible for 93% of the growth in 2019 streaming revenue. DSPs added an average of one million new subscribers per month in the US, which now has 60 million people paying for services."
Source:  MusicWeek, 26th February 2020

Americans spend on average 50 minutes a day behind the wheel

"For the time being, new car sales are trending up — believe it or not. The AAA says Americans spend 50 minutes behind the wheel each day on average. According to the 2019 edition of PYMNTS digital drive report, consumers behind the wheel represent a $260 billion commerce opportunity annually in the U.S. — and the U.S population is becoming increasingly habituated to using voice controls to mediate those transactions. The digital drive report found most commuters (53.3 percent) are turning to voice assistants to connect while driving and 36.6 percent of commuters who use voice assistants connect to the internet using their mobile device."

Source:  PYMNTS, 17th September 2019

US smartphone owners are keeping their devices for an average of 33 months

"U.S. consumers are holding onto their smartphones for an average of 33 months as a lack of innovation gives them reason to upgrade less frequently, a survey by Strategy Analytics found. The firm said consumers are very interested in next-generation 5G mobile service, although high smartphone prices will be a significant barrier to entry.
The average Apple smartphone has been active for 18 months, longer than the 16.5-month average for Samsung devices. The two companies remain dominant with brand loyalty of more than 70%, while other device makers like LG and Motorola see repeat purchase intentions of less than 50%.
Just 7% of U.S. consumers said they would spend over $1,000 on a new phone, while "wow features" are important to only about one-third of those surveyed. One out of four people said 5G will be important for their next mobile device, per Strategy Analytics."

Source:  Mobile Marketer, 23rd August 2019

74% of US households subscribe to at least one SVOD service

"New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that 74% of all U.S. households have a subscription video on-Demand (SVOD) service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu – up from 64% in 2017, and 52% in 2015.
Among those that have an SVOD service, 69% have more than one of these services – up from 51% in 2017, and 38% in 2015.  Overall, 51% of U.S. households now have more than one SVOD service, an increase from 33% in 2017, and 20% in 2015.
These findings are based on a survey of 1,116 households nationwide and are part of a new LRG study, Emerging Video Services 2019. This is LRG’s thirteenth annual study on this topic.
Other related findings include:
64% of all adults stream an SVOD service at least monthly, and 41% stream more than one SVOD service at least monthly
33% of adults stream an SVOD service daily – compared to 29% in 2017, and 16% in 2015
51% of ages 18-34 stream an SVOD service daily – compared to 34% of ages 35-54, and 15% of ages 55+
27% with Netflix agree that their subscription is shared with others outside their household – compared to 19% with Hulu, and 10% with Amazon Prime
51% of adults watch video on non-TV devices (including mobile phones, home computers, tablets, and eReaders) daily – up from 43% in 2017, and 31% in 2014."
Source:  Press release from Leichtman Research Group, 27th August 2019

Smartphone payment services have 80% adoption rates in China but only 10% in the US

"According to new statistics from management consultancy Bain, some 80% of Chinese consumers used some form of smartphone payments service last year, far higher than a U.S. adoption rate of 10%, reports CNBC.
Broken down by service, the Chinese market is dominated by local systems like WeChat Pay and AliPay, both of which enjoyed over 80% adoption rates in 2018. Cash, bank cards, credit cards and bank apps follow, with Apple Pay listed as the most-used foreign service with 17% adoption.
Gerard du Toit, partner and head of Bain's banking and payments sector, notes countries like China and India are ripe for penetration due to their reliance on cash.
"China and India have been very cash-based economies — that has a pretty high hassle and friction factor," du Toit said. "Mobile payment is a dramatic improvement versus having to manage a whole bunch of cash."
Whereas Alibaba and Tencent offered attractive alternatives to traditional payments in a bid for Chinese consumer favor, India pushed the use of mobile payments to dissuade unrecorded cash transactions and thus reap consumption taxes.
The story is different in the U.S., where Apple Pay has a 9% adoption rate. By comparison, PayPal is used by 44% of American consumers, while credit card and cash boast respective adoption rates of 80% and 79%.
There is little incentive for consumers to ditch credit cards, the top form of payment in America, for a mobile payment alternative, du Toit notes. In some cases, swiping or inserting a credit card into a point of sale terminal is easier than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and tapping it on an NFC reader."

Source:  Apple Insider, 29th August 2019

Twitch accounts for 70% of US live-streamed video

"Twitch is the No. 1 platform for streaming live video, accounting for 70% of all livestreamed hours watched during Q2 2019, per a study by StreamElements. The Amazon-owned platform experienced its first decline in viewing time with a 2% drop to 2.72 billion hours in Q2 from Q1, but still had a greater share of the market than YouTube Live (20%), Facebook Gaming (5.3%) and Microsoft's Mixer (3%).
Most of Twitch's viewing time was centered on the platform's top 5,000 streamers, which collectively generated 2 billion hours of viewing time in Q2. Popular streamers Tfue, Shroud and Ninja were in the top five every month during the quarter, while LIRIK, Asmongold and xQcOW appeared in the top five for the first time in 2019, per the study.
Streamers generated 76% of the viewing time among the top 200 channels on Twitch, compared with 24% for esports events such as the Overwatch League, ESL and Riot Games. Most viewers tend to watch popular esports games like Overwatch and League of Legends outside of a professional setting like a tournament, StreamElements' study found."
Source:  Mobile Marketer, 15th July 2019
Note - It doesn't specifically say US viewing, but I think that this is implied

31% of US households don't have broadband

"Over the past several years, many have suggested that broadband internet should be regarded as a public utility, like water or gas. Staying connected has become an essential part of nearly every facet of life, but according to a new report, high-speed connections may not be as prevalent here in the States as you may think.
In its new Rural America and Technology study, NPD notes that 31% of U.S. households don’t have broadband (25Mbps downloads and up) internet connections. The number works out to roughly 100 million per the report. That figure, unsurprisingly, is highly concentrated in rural areas — less than one-fifth of that population has a broadband connection.
While broadband was considered something of a luxury in the not so distant past, it’s grown into an increasingly essential aspect of modern existence, from work to health to entertainment. The concentration of access to the technology in urban versus rural areas has been a major aspect in what analysts have referred to as the “digital divide.” Rural areas make up nearly 97% of the total U.S. land."

Source:  Techcrunch, 25th July 2019

China accounts for over 50% of smart speaker shipments

"China has surpassed the United States to lead the smart speaker market.
According to new data from Canalys, China’s smart speaker shipments grew by 500 percent in Q1 2019 to achieve a 51 percent market share. The U.S. has dropped to a 24 percent market share in the same quarter, down from its 44 percent share in Q4 2018.
Baidu, for example, shipped 3.3 million speakers, bolstered by an exclusive sponsorship deal with China’s national TV channel, CCTV, on its New Year’s Gala on Chinese New Year’s Eve. The promotion prompted users to download the Baidu app, which handed out more than 100 million coupons. The company is now in third place in smart speaker shipments, behind Amazon at 4.6 million and Google at 3.5 million. Alibaba and Xiaomi each had 3.2 million shipments, with both benefiting from Chinese New Year promotions."

Source:  PYMNTS, 21st May 2019