Particularly since the turn of the decade, live streaming has really taken off.
Of course, sports and major music events have long been able to be live streamed online, but it’s become a far more social activity since the rise of platforms like YouTube and Twitch, and once social media platforms developed live features.
As of 2022, the global live-streaming market had already eclipsed $1.22 billion in value and was tipped to breach the $6.56 billion mark by the next decade.
It’s popular, it’s mainstream, and the technology is being used in a couple of different ways to great effect.
Here, we’re just dipping our toes into two of the most prominent angles for utilizing live streams to help those who are intrigued by the activity or seek to harness its potential.
Live streaming for entertainment
Live streaming took on a whole new form once the video gaming community got in on the action. Twitch was, essentially, built on the backs of gamers live streaming their gameplay, reacting in real time, and replying to the live chat text to share their experience of a game.
Those viewing could then experience the game through them.
Twitch now has over 240 million active users each month and offers streams across a huge range of themes and topics. What unites them all, however, is that some form of entertainment is at the heart of the stream.
Sometimes it’s the big personality on stream, other times it’s the fun of hanging out with others or listening to music.
It’s all about being “in the moment” and authentic, which live streaming naturally lends itself to very well.
Putting on a live stream can let you share your honest thoughts on a topic and react to new content, which is what many people tune in for as it’s these elements that make the experience fun and engaging.
Live streaming for business
Now, many people will have seen particularly celebrities or popular people on social media go on a live stream to promote a product, but that’s essentially the more rudimental way to use live streaming for business. Easily the most advanced going is in the iGaming space.
According to a company that helps to find the best platforms, most US casinos are now live-dealer casinos, utilizing a live stream of a real professional croupier as a part of their table games and game shows.
The technology not only shows the players the game in real time, but also lets them play it by tapping the screens, betting on the real cards, the outcome of the wheel spin, or drops of the boxes.
Live-dealer blackjack and live-dealer roulette are, naturally, the most popular of these, but live craps, live baccarat, and live big-wheel games also command a strong following.
In all of them, it’s the real game being directed by the player’s live betting. Still, not everyone can run a studio and all of the additional tech required to make this work.
What is very accessible to all, however, is the growing world of live commerce. Shopping online in real time through a live stream has never been easier.
It’s already a multi-billion sector in China, but has been a bit slow to take off in the US.
Given the immersion of the live stream, the chance for live demos and questions, and the chance to make it an event with real-time offers, perhaps US live commerce is just waiting for the right innovator to come in, gauge the market, and go big for their business.
Live streaming is a great tool for finding and making your own kind of entertainment, but where the technology’s really being pushed to the maximum is in business.
In iGaming and increasingly commerce, live streams are becoming more potent and valuable. Soon, going live might be the normal way to sell online.