Predictions 2024
29. November 2023
Das Format Predictions 2024 zeigt die relevantesten Technologien, Innovationen und Trends der Medienbranche für das Jahr 2024 auf.
20 Trends für 2021
20 Trends for 2024
With our predictions, we take a look into the future of the most relevant technologies, innovations and developments in the content industry. We asked 20 experts from our nextMedia network to predict what users and providers can expect in the new year 2024.
Retrospect
Back to the future? Take a look back now to see what developments the experts from our network predicted for 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
AI in journalism: fact or fake?
“Artificial intelligence, and generative AI in particular, will continue to change journalism in the coming year. AI tools will increasingly support us and allow us to tailor our content to different user needs with one click – for example, by creating different text variants or casting the content in a suitable video. We will see more personalization and regionalization in journalistic products and AI will also support us in the background: For example, finding relevant information in data, designing, writing or titling an article. However, AI-generated images and videos will also pose immense challenges for journalism and will repeatedly raise the question of how to distinguish fact from fake, especially when reporting in the super election year 2024.”
Anna Behrend
NDR
Data quality
“Garbage in, garbage out – the quality of data will become even more crucial in 2024.
In today’s business world, companies are investing in their own GPT models, such as Bosch with BoschGPT, to optimize processes. This will certainly increase even more in 2024, as companies will have even more extensive sources of information at their disposal, from customer interactions and market trends to sensor data and social media interactions. However, the difficulty lies in transforming this data into usable knowledge, drawing the right conclusions from it and handling it ethically. It is also crucial to prepare for the EU AI Act, similar to the GDPR, and to take data privacy and security seriously, as data is the foundation for successful AI.”
Ulrike Dobelstein-Lüthe
Hamburg Media School
First productivity gains through GenAI
“After an exciting year full of AI hubs, AI hackathons and AI fake interviews, the inflated expectations that the Gartner Hype Cycle attested to “Generative AI” even before the chatGPT release have returned to the reality scale. The GPTs and DALL-Es will not replace humans, but support them. Just as human feedback is built into the models themselves, it will also be needed to validate and refine automatically generated content. At the same time, on the technology side, the democratization of LLMs and other pre-trained ML models is being driven forward at a rapid pace, making them accessible to a broad range of companies.
In my estimation, we will see the first incremental changes in publishing in 2024 as a result of “Generative AI”. The creation of content will become more efficient through the (partial) automation of individual work steps. I don’t yet see a real game changer.”
Robin Friese
Bauer Media Group
The dance with the TikTok algorithm
“If you want to reach Gen Z with news in 2024, you need to have the vertical video game and the dance with the TikTok algorithm figured out. As under-25s spend more and more time on the platform – more than five hours a day! – the time in which a clip has to convince is decreasing. To stand out in the for-you feed of Gen Z with journalism or even go viral, speed, the right approach and the perfect hook are must-haves. Entertainment is king here – if you don’t rely on entertainment elements and constructive community management, you won’t stand a chance of winning over young target groups in 2024 and countering the rise in news avoidance. Only those who allow Gen Z journalists to take the helm in editorial offices will establish themselves as a reliable source for young users in times of fake news and propaganda surrounding the war in Ukraine and the Middle East.”
Isabella David-Zagratzki
Tagesschau
Programmatic TV gains momentum
“In 2024, moving images will retain their undisputed status as the most effective advertising format. In this era of rapid technological evolution, we can look forward to an exciting innovation: programmatic TV has taken its first steps this year and will undoubtedly gain momentum. The fascinating thing about this development is the possibility of making the leap to the big screen even with a modest budget and reaching a broad target group at lightning speed. The traditional “big screen” is thus becoming a democratized advertising platform that is accessible to advertisers of all sizes. In addition, AI can now be used to cost-effectively deliver (hyper)-individualized video advertising to the target group’s other personalized devices.
This should be used! Advertising is particularly important in times of crisis. The loss from not advertising is more expensive than remaining present as a brand at a minimum level.”
Astrid Waterstraat
pilot
Creator Economy goes global
“The creator economy will experience its final globalization in 2024. This is because AI tools will make it easier and cheaper to create content in many different languages. With “Heygen”, for example, creators will be able to synchronize their videos automatically. Star Youtuber MrBeast could then lip-sync his videos and speak in a synthesized “original voice” in Chinese, Arabic or German (he still has his videos dubbed by humans). The major digital platforms will integrate such tools; YouTube is already conducting a corresponding test. Content creators will then be able to reach a global audience much more easily. At the same time, competition for attention will become much tougher, because if a MrBeast also publishes German videos in future, there will be less watch time left for German channels.”
AI revolution on the web
“In 2024, artificial intelligence will continue to transform the web. Personalized search engines and chatbots will significantly optimize the user experience. AI-driven content creation will expand the internet’s offerings, but will raise increasing concerns about the credibility and copyrights of content. Advances will enable personalized services, while data protection and privacy issues arise. Creative AI applications will enrich digital work in the long term, but at the same time there is a risk of new dependencies and loss of authenticity. The trade-off between increased productivity and effectiveness through AI and the protection of individual values will be crucial.
The web is becoming more intelligent, with opportunities and challenges in equal measure. Seizing the opportunities of the AI revolution and actively tackling the challenges will be crucial for companies in the media sector to be and remain successful.”
Wiebke Nadzeika
oneGuide
Hyper personalization and trust
“Yes, you read that right – personalization again. In 2024, hyper-personalization in digital journalism will reach new heights through the use of AI. In a year that will be characterized by key political moments, it will be crucial for publishers to tailor their content to the needs of their audience with surgical precision, deepening reader engagement and thus increasing digital subscriptions. At the same time, it is essential to ensure the veracity of reporting so as not to undermine reader trust. This dual focus on customized content and reliable reporting paves the way for a new era in which traditional values such as trust and the new values of user interests are the cornerstones. Diversification of revenue streams remains essential; advertising and subscriptions continue to play an important role as they are secured through continued engagement and deep trust, but new revenue streams are also conceivable.”
Christian Heise
Google
Simplified access to XR through AI
“AI will give a new boost to the gaming and extended reality sectors. The metaverse as a term is passé, but the underlying technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are becoming much more affordable thanks to the possibilities offered by new AI capabilities. AI can already create 3D models based on text or make characters in game worlds more dynamic. However, media companies in Germany have so far paid too little attention to virtual worlds. Yet many users can already be found there – especially young people, including the news consumers of tomorrow. If AI makes the development of extended reality products easier and more accessible, I hope that media companies that are not just interested in pure entertainment will also follow suit.”
Marie Kilg
Deutsche Welle
AI as a brand identity in book publishing
“In 2024, book publishing will be heavily influenced by artificial intelligence across all stages of the value chain. In the areas of marketing and sales, AI will generate efficiency gains because AI tools will become much more user-friendly or will be integrated into existing standard programs. The real trick will be to develop/retain a distinctive brand identity in communication despite the ubiquitous use of AI.
For book publishers, however, the focus is also on the creation of core products, stories in text and/or image form, because increasingly intuitive AI tools are being seamlessly integrated into the workflow of authors and illustrators. Mutual trust and open communication on the use of AI between publishers and their creative partners will be particularly important here.”
Dr. Markus Dömer
Carlsen Verlag
AI – opportunity or challenge for the music landscape?
“Music has never been as ubiquitous and diverse as it is today. In order for this to pay off for artists and creatives, we will (have to) continue the discussions we started in 2023 in 2024. This involves fair legal structures that allow creatives to experiment with new tools. There also needs to be more transparency with regard to data and copyrights. Generative AI will still be a challenge in 2024. In addition, new technologies and improved features are coming onto the market that will impact how music is created, how we consume it and how we discover it. From virtual reality concerts to AI-supported music production or voice recreations, many things are conceivable. The traditional approach to music is being challenged, but it also opens up new approaches to music and the opportunity for a fair and diverse musical landscape.”
Agnes Chung
musicube
Quo Vadis Podcast?
“The podcast advertising market will remain a growth market in 2024 – despite a persistently difficult economic environment. Only recently, PwC forecast 40% revenue growth to over 3 billion US dollars for the US market; the German podcast market will also continue to grow strongly in the new year. Two aspects in particular will act as special drivers of development: efficiency gains through new technical tools – especially in the field of generative AI – and increasing pressure from platforms & publishers for profitability. 2023 can be classified as a hype year for AI. In 2024, many use cases will find their way out of the niche and into the mass market – from simplified & AI-driven production processes to voice cloning and advanced systems for contextual targeting. At the same time, the importance of the advertising business for publishers & platforms is increasing. Spotify has already shifted its focus from costly originals to the expansion of its Spotify Audience Network this year. Podimo, previously financed primarily through subscription revenues, also tested some of its exclusives in the ad-financed area. For advertisers, all of this means even more choice & opportunities for their campaign planning in 2024.”
Julian Berzbach
Ad Alliance
Platforms must become more flexible and sustainable
“The world is changing ever faster, and companies must become ever more resilient in the face of increasing uncertainty, complexity and volatility. This will not change in 2024, but rather accelerate. In order to be able to adapt flexibly to the ever faster changing market situations, companies need to operate platforms that consist of small, independent building blocks that can be flexibly assembled as required. The composable enterprise approach is not new, but it will be mainstream in 2024.
In addition, the topic of sustainability will also become more of a focus in the platform sector in 2024. The increasing use of AI, IoT and cloud services will inevitably lead to higher energy requirements, and platform operators will have to look at how they can operate their platforms more efficiently, more circularly and more sustainably next year.”
Mirja Meyer
Jung von Matt TECH
Agree to disagree – Discord still on the rise
“Similar to Twitch in its day, Discord will continue to gain in importance and reach outside the gaming scene as a supposedly “gaming-only” platform. As a now established social media instance within gaming culture, especially for start-ups, (indie) game developers and influencers, Discord will continue its triumphal march as the number one community platform in the coming year as a technically better alternative to Slack, Teams and the like. It will also be able to expand significantly into non-gaming markets as a go-to platform for community services.
Brands such as Porsche, Gucci and Samsung already recognized the advantages of the platform some time ago and put their own servers into operation. The main advantage: all the features offered and constantly updated serve to build community loyalty, the exchange between (content) providers and community participants can be highly individualized and clearly structured into different text, audio and video rooms depending on the topic. Quite a few industry members are waiting for Discord to be officially “opened” as an actual live streaming platform.”
Daniel Budiman
RBTV
Real-time avatars in customer service: the future of interaction!
“In 2024, real-time synthetic video generation will reach a milestone that will enable companies to offer live avatar video chatbots. These chatbots will be able to respond to customer queries in real time and interact with users as if they were real people. The use of real-time synthesis technologies will enable companies to create highly personalized customer experiences. These avatars will be the visual presence of brands and companies and will be able to communicate with customers in live chats on websites, in mobile apps or on social media. They will not only be able to answer queries, but also convert speech into authentic, human-like facial expressions and gestures in real time. This development will significantly increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, as companies will be able to provide immediate and personalized support around the clock. Live avatar video chatbots will not only be used in customer support, but also in sales, training and entertainment.”
Julia Leduc
Anymate Me
Authorization of product teams through no-code
“2024 should be the year in which media companies test ideas and business models more quickly. Thanks to the rapid development of no-code tools that simplify processes, make sensible use of AI and lower barriers, interdisciplinary teams can respond directly to user needs. These tools make it possible to develop prototypes independently and without complex IT projects. If management provides clear visions and framework conditions, product teams can act autonomously, learn more quickly and create target group-specific products. This is crucial in order to create new value propositions beyond pure content and remain relevant in the media industry.”
Andreas Spiegler
Selbstständiger Produktmanager
A flood of synthetic content
“Generative AI will become widespread in 2024. The creation of synthetic content will become standard and child’s play, as it will be an integral part of office and productivity software, tools for digital advertising and social media content. Many jobs will experience a rapid boost in efficiency as a result. At the same time, the amount of texts, videos, posts, podcasts, images, graphics, presentations, websites and other digital content will increase enormously. The battle for attention will become even more merciless. We will all frequently ask ourselves questions about the authenticity, source reliability or relevance of content. For us traditional media, despite all the pressure to innovate, there is also a great opportunity in this development: we are already trustworthy senders and offer an important point of orientation in the flood of content with our brand.”
Holger Volland
brand eins
Metaverse visions 2024: New opportunities, new rules
“The future of the metaverse depends largely on drivers such as hardware and software manufacturers who want to create a complex infrastructure in which new immersive content can find its place. Hype technologies” such as AI and the metaverse/XR do not contradict each other, but work together and this trend is already emerging at an impressive pace.
With innovative products such as Microsoft Mesh, Microsoft is laying the foundations for interoperability and has been able to create a business-ready mixed reality platform for digital collaboration, thus solving some of the formal problems and IT integration hurdles faced by German and European companies. For example, the platform can be accessed conveniently from a PC as well as from an HMD and, thanks to the Microsoft Teams environment, offers the advantage of integrating AI and XR solutions in its own ecosystem and opens up access not only for established corporates, but also for start-ups and SMEs.”
Susanne Ahmadseresht
nextReality.Hamburg
New boost for the metaverse
“We are getting ever closer to a cultural change in 2024. Unlike in the hype wave of 2021, the former buzzword metaverse will get a new boost. I myself first came into contact with the term in the context of blockchain. However, lifestyle brands (separate from crypto) have long been creating virtual experiences for younger target groups. Children and teenagers have long since moved into digital spheres such as Roblox or TikTok, where virtual identities and ownership are becoming increasingly important. This could give NFTs a new, less commerce-centric meaning. The upcoming launch of the Apple Vision Pro will set a milestone for mixed reality. The iPhone moment for the metaverse? Let’s see. While the B2C sector is only taking small steps, Siemens is already investing billions in the industrial metaverse, a previously underestimated area. Overall, the transition to the 3D Internet will take time, depending on the spread of the necessary hardware and the added value that these technologies offer in everyday life.”
Vicktoria Klich
w3.fund
Digital Out of Home – the oldest medium in the world, the mass medium of the future?
“Outdoor advertising (OOH), the oldest medium in the world – the world’s first advertising pillar was erected in Berlin in 1855 – is the winner in changing times, at the latest with the ongoing digitalization of outdoor advertising (DOOH): Fragmentation of media, declining reach in TV, fewer and fewer newspaper/magazine readers, especially in young target groups, and “bubbles” in social media are making it increasingly difficult for advertisers to achieve targeted reach. The oldest medium in the world offers the solution here: Flexibility and targeting through digitalization, national reach of >80% with moving images in public spaces, dynamic advertising media, programmatic availability are just a few keywords – added value for citizens through various messages and also the cities that offer DOOH screens as city information systems are just a few examples. DOOH has by far the lowest CO2 footprint of all media. DOOH, the oldest medium in the world reinvented!”
Andreas Heintze
Ströer Digital Media GmbH
Content Industry
In our industry overview you will find Hamburg cases from the seven development fields as well as further information about the content industry.
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