🔴 A Review Of Streaming In 2023

🔑 Plus Instagram Live stream keys, a new TikTok LIVE app, records being broken and more!

Author

Harry Blanchflower
December 22, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Issue #34

Hey, it’s Harry.

Welcome back to another week of the streaming and content journey.

We might be reaching the holidays but the streaming updates keep coming. This week it was Instagram Live finally making stream keys available to more creators.

Plus, let’s review the major streaming trends of 2023.

📰 In Today’s Edition

  • 🟢 What were the biggest streaming trends of 2023?

  • 🔧 Help test a ground-breaking TikTok LIVE tool

  • 📷 How to find your Instagram Live stream key

  • ⭐ SavageMike breaks TikTok LIVE records

📆 2023 In Review

As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to look back on the biggest streaming and content news of 2023 along with some thoughts on how to take advantage.

Chart showing the rapid rise of Kick

Kick

There is only one place to start and that is with Kick. It’s a livestreaming platform that looks very similar to Twitch and is linked with gambling website Stake through cofounder Ed Craven.

Kick’s major selling point is an industry-leading 95/5 revenue split. For a $5 sub, the streamer gets $4.75. In comparison, Twitch takes 50%. However, some people are not fans of the platform’s gambling rules or the presence of controversial streamers such as Adin Ross. There’s also been so much drama. Here are one, two, three and four examples but I could share more 😂.

Throughout 2023 the platform made several high-profile signings including Nickmercs, Tfue, xQc and Amouranth. Data shows watch hours rapidly increasing from just 4M in December 2022 to around 105M in the second half of the year. However, this is dwarfed by Twitch, which registered 1,774M hours last month. That is not even 6% of Twitch’s watch hours.

My thoughts? If you have built yourself a strong community you should consider making Kick one of your primary streaming platforms.

You might notice I said Kick should be “one of” your platforms. That leads me to the next major trend of 2023…

Multistreaming

Simulcast, Multistream, Multicast. Whatever you call it, this phenomenon took off in 2023.

Ninja started this trend last year. For a long time, Twitch only allowed it to be done via TikTok LIVE. The rise of Kick forced Twitch’s hand. Eventually, they were forced to allow multistreaming to any platform in October.

My thoughts? I have been multistreaming since 2021 on the advice of the well-respected Devin Nash. Twitch was never able to enforce its multistreaming rules. I use Streamlabs Ultra. My affiliate link gives $9 off.

Multistreaming increases your reach, protects you from crazy algorithms and unlocks more chances to make money. Unless you’re doing something very platform-specific, for example, a TikTok LIVE battle, then my experience shows no major downside to multistreaming.

Artificial Intelligence

And finally, we can’t talk about 2023 without talking about AI. Tools like chatbot ChatGPT and image generator Midjourney exploded in popularity throughout the year.

Video editing has become far easier with tools that generate subtitles or remove all silence from a whole video. I use the web browser editor VEED for this (Affiliate link).

On the streaming front, it’s been a little quieter but we’re starting to see AI streams such as Neural Chaos’ TikTok Spongebob AI stream or TrumpOrBiden2024 on Twitch. We’ve also had pseudo AI streams such as the viral NPC black cat.

My thoughts? AI is a fantastic assistant. Devin Nash describes it as your “low-level thinker”. It’s great for tedious tasks. For example, it summarised Twitch’s new rules in last week’s edition. However, most viewers still want a genuine human connection and I don’t see the majority of viewers watching AI-only streams anytime soon.

Resources

Have I missed a major trend? Hit reply and let me know!

🕺 An Innovative New TikTok LIVE Program

Next, we have a message from Ryan AKA RahulTok_. (You might recognise him)

@rahultok_

#livestream #live #npc

🚨ATTENTION LIVESTREAMERS 🚨

I found an app that helps you make more money in your TikTok livestreams: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8uN5F8v/

TikTok doesn’t allow 3rd party extensions, but the app works around that:

During your livestream, viewers click a custom link in your bio, where they pay for a custom request (ex. $10 to sing, or $20 to dance). (The app will create a unique link for you.)

The custom requests appear as an overlay in the app.

Your TikTok livestream can be a SCREEN RECORDING stream of the app. That way, your TikTok viewers get an enhanced viewing experience — the custom requests appear from the overlay. You choose whether you want to accept the request.

Since the custom requests show up in the overlay, other viewers get inspired to also pay you for their own custom requests — meaning YOU make more money.

Feel free to contact the app’s creator, Ryan, if you’re interested in trying it out or learning more:

+1 (704) 890-1338 / [email protected] / TikTok @rahultok_

🎬 Instagram Live Stream Keys Are Finally Here!

Earlier this week, Instagram Live finally made stream keys available to anybody with a professional account.

Combined with a free TikTok LIVE stream key and YouTube Shorts streaming this means you can now multistream to three platforms in vertical mode!

🤔 Thought For The Week

🎯 Bullet Point News

  • SavageMike wins the TikTok gaming LIVE Fest and then proceeds to be the first-ever TikTok streamer to hit 10K subs. All in one week!

  • Twitch rolls back some of its new nudity rules just two days after implementing them.

  • DrLupo raises over $1M in just 24 hours for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

  • Share your experiences with TikTok LIVE agencies here and help make sure my list of agencies that give stream keys only contains the best free agencies.

  • YouTube finally adds viewer chat and mod history to livestream chat.

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👋 Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

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