Starting with the obvious, February saw Paramount+ dominate the digital storefronts to promote its coverage of The Super Bowl LVIII. This highly anticipated event saw The Kansas City Chiefs beating the San Francisco 49ers, with Usher dazzling the audience with an epic halftime show. In total, the event attracted over 123 million U.S. viewers, a world record for the event which surpassed the 2023 figures by 7%, simultaneously making it the most popular TV event of all time in the region (Inside the Games). It wasn’t smooth sailing, however. Being the exclusive streaming home to the 2024 Super Bowl, Paramount+ were perhaps slightly out of their depth, as technical issues left a large number of subscribers unable to live stream the event. Despite these technical difficulties, their prominence was much to be admired on the major platforms in the US. If you’d like to see how the App cleverly used the “fear of missing out” to entice new subscribers into their arms, read our February Merchandiser of the Month report here.

With the Super Bowl causing a stir amongst sporting fans, a new gang was attracted to the scene amidst the frenzy to announce their imminent arrival and mark their territory. It was announced in February that ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will be launching a new sports streaming platform. This new streaming service is expected to launch in fall 2024, and will be serving up an impressive selection of events to meet the needs of every sporting fan you could possibly imagine. This includes fan favourites such as NFL, NBA, MLB, the FIFA World Cup and many more.

Discussions are also heating up when it comes to the local broadcasters gasping for air amidst a crowded pool, dominated by the streaming giants. Proposed legislation was announced, stating that in Australia Smart TVs must display free-to-air channels alongside streaming services. We’ve been taking a deep dive into how a surge in streaming services has heightened the complexity of media regulators’ responsibilities, particularly concerning prominence on digital platforms. With content titles and apps having taken centre stage over traditional channel listings on the endless Connected TV Devices available, the task of determining visibility has become more challenging for regulators. So, how will this end? We’re keeping a close eye out. Talking of prominence on the platforms, if you’d like to see who’s currently taking the lead, you can check that out in our Merchandiser of the Month report here.

Last but not least, we’re not quite sure what to make about this next headline. According to Tyler Perry, there have been shocking and perhaps underestimated advancements in AI when it concerns the production of film and television. Shocking enough, in fact, that it has prompted the actor and filmmaker to halt an $800m studio expansion. The AI tool in question is OpenAI’s video generator, Sora, which is able to produce realistic footage from simple text prompts. Being hugely concerned over the imminent threat to a huge number of jobs within the industry, Perry said “It can’t be one union fighting every contract every two or three years. I think that it has to be everybody, all involved in how we protect the future of our industry because it is changing rapidly, right before our eyes,”. All in all, February has certainly been a month that has shaken things up a bit for the industry. We’ll be keeping a keen eye out throughout March, and look forward to inviting you back for the next recap.