Nic Newman presents research on the implications of voice technology and smart speakers for news. Some key findings include: - Smart speaker ownership is growing faster than smartphones at a similar stage, with around 30 million users in the US. However, people primarily use voice assistants for basic tasks like weather, music, and timers rather than news. - Broadcasters dominate the default news sources on devices due to their high trust and expectations for audio news. Few people change the defaults. - News usage is split between interactive conversations, brief news updates, and passive radio/podcast listening. Publishers struggle with developing voice strategies due to lack of resources, path to monetization, discovery challenges, and lack of usage data.

1. @risj_oxford
Nic Newman
November 2018
Hello Voice ….
THE IMPLICATIONS FOR NEWS

2. The backstory ….
12 countries
AMAZON ECHO GOOGLE
HOME
19 countries
APPLE HOMEPOD
8 countries
201
4
201
6
201
8

3. This is not just about smart speakers
In home, in ear,
in car, in
everything

4. Recap of the rationale…
Little is known
about how
voice tech
devices are
used
Little is known
about barriers
to adoption –
and for news
usage
Little is known
about how
news works in
this
environment

5. UNITED KINGDOM UNITED STATES GERMANY
4 x in home depth
2 x focus groups
4 x in home depth
2 x focus groups
2 x focus groups
Survey 3000 nat rep
+ 1000 smart speaker
boost
Survey 3000 nat rep
+ 500 smart
speaker boost
10 publisher
interviews
7 publisher
interviews
5 publisher
interviews
REST OF WORLD
4 publisher
interviews
Methodology

6. Smart speaker growth
Growing faster than the smartphone at a similar stage. Around 30m already using them in the US.

7. People love their smart speakers
Thrill Useful FunSpeed
Satisfaction of
feeling
‘futuristic’
Enabling new
behaviours
Playing
games with
speaker and
others
Making tasks
quicker/reduci
ng friction
• This was consistent across the UK, USA and Germany
• Most were looking to get more devices in future
• Older people find them really easy to use, pathway to digital

8. Many see voice as a chance to de-clutter
It may kill the remote control
TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE LIFE TOO COMPLICATED – VOICE CAN CUT THROUGH THAT

9. But, they are currently using voice in limited ways ..
COMMAND AND CONTROL …
• What is the weather in Edinburgh ?
• Turn on BBC Radio Scotland ..
• Play George Ezra ..
• Set a timer for 10 minutes ..
It is replacing radios and alarm clocks
But people get frustrated when they try to do anything more complex

10. 10
Privacy concern: the biggest barrier ….
“I’m not sure if I’m okay with it coming with
me everywhere I go and listening to my every
conversation.”
Potential user
“[My brother’s] got one but won’t use it
[due to privacy concerns with voice].”
Existing Alexa user, UK
Others, less bothered ……
“But you’re already being monitored when you
post certain things on Facebook, for example.”
Potential user
“I’ve got nothing to keep secret. I don’t have any
nude photos, I’m not a terrorist, I don’t care.”
Existing Alexa user

11. @risj_oxford
What About
News?

12. 12
84%
66%
58% 56%
46%
35%
25%
21%
13% 11% 9%
61%
6% 4%
7%
1%
7%
3%
0% 1% 0% 1%
Play music Answer general
questions
Weather
updates
Set alarms/
reminders
News updates Interact with
other smart
devices
Memos/ lists Sync with
calendar/
schedule
Read
audiobooks
Games Order products
online
Use regularly Most valued
News is not as important as we might hope….
Base: All that own a smart speaker & are aware of its features
n = 185
MIND THE GAP
News widely used,
but less valued
THREE TYPES OF NEWS USAGE
• Interactive/conversational
• News updates
• Live radio and podcasts

13. News is not as important as we might hope ..
Give me the headlines – Less than one in five owners are using Flash Briefing daily.
Easy to get news on other devices, content, tone, length not right yet ….

14. 14
Power of the default ….
Broadcasters in general dominate
Default, high trust, expectations around audio
Few people care enough to change the default
(23%)
2%
2%
2%
3%
3%
3%
4%
5%
5%
6%
9%
9%
10%
19%
64%
Telegraph News
Bloomberg
Buzzfeed News
Reuters
Yahoo News
My local…
News from my…
Financial Times
Economist
LBC News
Guardian News
Sky Sport
BBC Sport
Sky News
BBC News

15. 15
Default is split in the US….
13%
13%
13%
14%
16%
16%
17%
22%
23%
26%
28%
28%
My local newspaper or TV…
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post
Reuters / Reuters TV
NBC/CNBC News
New York Times
CBS News
BBC News
Fox News
ABC News
NPR (National Public Radio)
CNN News
Broadcasters dominate
Half have changed or configured
their settings

16. Passive radio listening more popular than podcasts..
“I’m not sure how much I would listen to it there [on a smart speaker], because podcasts are
the sort of thing I would listen to on a train”
(Focus Group, UK)
19% of NPR’s online radio listening is now from smart speakers – this is
additional

17. Smart speaker use peaks early and late in the day
Early Morning Late morning Afternoon Early evening Late Evening/ Night
Flash
Briefing
Radio
listening
Travel /
weather
Check
diary
More radio
Help with
cooking
One-off information requests
Flash
Briefing
Entertainment / play
Set alarms
/reminders
Habits are are well-ingrained and easy for respondents to recall.
For heavy users, VOICE is the first & final interaction with technology (replacing smartphone)

18. @risj_oxford | #DNR18
Publisher
approaches

19. Some publishers think voice is the future
19
“I believe in voice
technology because
it's the easiest and
most natural way to
retrieve information”
Florian Harms,
Editor in Chief,
t-online.de

20. BBC is investing hard
20
“Our hunch is that voice is a disruptive technological change,
much as the mobile phone was or the internet itself”
(Mukul Devichand, Executive Editor, Voice + AI, BBC)

21. Others are much more sceptical …
21
“ If you are a broadcaster then it is a no brainer to get into this early
but
it is much more difficult for us”
Christian Bennett, head of audio and video at the Guardian
1. Lack of resources for innovation
2. Lack of a clear path to monetisation
3. Problems of discovery and awareness
4. Lack of usage data to guide development
Four reasons for holding back

22. Some are downright scared ….
22
“I think it changes everything . As soon as you move to voice, as
opposed
to touch, as the main interface between the people and the
platforms, you are ceding any opportunity to make a decision
because the machine is going to have to make the decision for you”
STUART WATT, ABC NEWS

23. 23
What should publishers do now ….
 Develop a strategy for voice – why does it matter? How overlap with
audio?
 Make existing content accessible and findable though voice (VEO!)
 Create ‘differentiated audio content’, that works across multiple platforms
 Develop multi-modal content (voice to screen and visa-versa)
 Experiment with more immersive and conversational experiences

24. @risj_oxford
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VOICE
It is a big
deal!!