Late to the Bandwagon

So tonight I'd like to talk about a feature Twitch added back in March 2016. I have been watching streamers on Twitch, and have been interested in the e-sports and live-streaming industries for a while, so I am surprised I missed this.

Since the website began in 2011, it has been solely focused on gaming, being a platform for over 2 million people to host their own show (Twitch, 2016) with billions of total views. However, they have branched into a new venture - taking a step away from its' grass roots and stepping into broadcast channel territory. When the creative channels opened, Twitch streamed Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting to over 5 million people (Perez, 2016), and allowed its customers to begin streaming alternative content, such as live-music, DJing, and other PC-based activities that people may enjoy watching.

Now, Twitch has released another genre to their channel list - cooking. They live-streamed Julia Child's "The French Chef" as a release celebration similar to the Bob Ross series.

Now, I'm not here to talk about the success of those live-streams - I am interested in the idea of Twitch moving towards non-PC; or more non-gaming content.

Twitch has completely blown up over the last 5 years, and has arguably exploded the e-sports industry, which is currently near $500m, and is predicted to pass $1bn by 2018 (Lee, 2016). Anyone within the gaming community understands that Twitch is a bona fide content site within itself; single-handedly creating a new content delivery service and opportunity for gaming entertainment in a whole new way. Twitch has a huge following, which is shown by their numbers - and this is what interests me.

Throughout the Television industry we have seen a huge move away from broadcast television - especially with younger audiences (MarketingCharts, 2016), and an unparalleled growth in online on-demand services such as BBC iPlayer, 4oD, Netflix etc. However, as television has dwindled, Twitch has thrived in an opposite fashion. Twitch and broadcast television has one thing in common; everything is as-live. There is no rewind on Twitch - you must follow your favourite streamer's schedule if you do not want to miss a moment, or wait until their stream has ended before you can watch the on-demand replay (but not all channels have this feature).

So, maybe viewers are not bored of television per say, but rather bored of sitting on a sofa for hours on end? Bored of watching advertisements on repeat every 15 minutes? Maybe people are so used to being constantly "switched on" that watching television is too slow?

There are so many questions to ask here, and I feel all of them will relate to this, but that is for a later blog post.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Twitch. (2016).

Twitch. [online]

Available at: https://www.twitch.tv/p/partnerfaq

[Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]

Reynolds, E. (2016).

Twitch launches food channel with Julia Child marathon. [online]

WIRED UK.

Available at: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/twitch-food-cooking-channel-julia-child

[Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]

Perez, S. (2016).

After Pulling In 5.6M Viewers, Twitch Is Keeping Bob Ross On The Air. [online]

TechCrunch.

Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/09/after-pulling-in-5-6m-viewers-twitch-is-keeping-bob-ross-on-the-air/

[Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]

Lee, P. (2016).

Predictions 2016: eSports—bigger and smaller than you think | Technology, Media, and Telecommunications. [online]

Deloitte.

Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/tmt-pred16-media-esports-bigger-smaller-than-you-think.html [Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]

MarketingCharts. (2016).

The State of Traditional TV: Q2 2016 Update. [online]

Available at: http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/are-young-people-watching-less-tv-24817/

[Accessed 29 Nov. 2016]