Backed by $1.7 trillion in “excess savings” stored up and unspent during the pandemic, consumers are eager to spend, said global payments company Blackhawk Network Thursday. Some 76% of Americans surveyed said they plan to spend more on gifts when they travel or socialize, it said. About 70 % of consumers plan to spend $100 or more on birthdays, 67% as much, or more, on holidays, it said. Men (76%) and GenX consumers (77%) plan to spend $250-$500 on gifts across occasions, especially holidays, it said.
Executives are split between those planning a full-time return to the physical office (41.5%) and others expecting a hybrid workforce (39.4%), WB Wood found. The office furniture retailer canvassed 200 executives March 18-30, finding that 19.1% expect working remotely will be a “permanent solution,” it said. And 39.1% expect to return to the office in Q2, but 70.9% expect to return before year-end.
Videoconferences may be “less exhausting” if participants have a sense of group belonging, reported the American Psychological Association Monday on the personal toll that virtual meetings are taking during COVID-19. Researchers originally surmised that longer meetings and appearing on video would lead factors contributing to “Zoom fatigue,” but a study of 55 employees said a connection with the group minimized fatigue. Participants received nine hourly surveys daily for five consecutive working days last year, completing more than 1,700 surveys based on five to six weekly videoconferences. Researchers’ recommendations included holding meetings in the early afternoon; allowing time for small talk before or after, along with breakout rooms where participants can talk about shared interests; establishing basic rules such as whether to keep webcams on; and taking screen breaks.
CTIA doesn’t have “a back-to-the-office date,” said Nick Ludlum, chief communications officer: “We are closely monitoring vaccination rates and public health indicators, and our priority is our staff’s safety.” Plans to return to in-person work vary widely, with many waiting to make decisions (see 2104140030).
Broadcast networks dispute Nielsen data showing viewership plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but traditional pay-TV data seems to back up Nielsen's position, nScreenMedia analyst Colin Dixon blogged Tuesday. He said third-party data points to empty sports stadiums and the TV production shutdown hitting the traditional TV industry "much harder than it would like to admit."
Satisfaction runs high among U.S. adults who participated in at least one telehealth visit during the pandemic between March 2020 and Jan. 30, said a COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition survey published Tuesday. The group canvassed 2,000 patients December through February, finding that 79% of respondents were happy with their telehealth visits and 73% expected to continue to receive healthcare services virtually beyond the pandemic, it said. “It’s really encouraging to see that the high satisfaction scores are consistent across age ranges, insurance type, and regardless of whether the patient lives in an urban, suburban, or rural location,” said Steve Ommen, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care, who supervised the study. “Years from now, we will point to 2020 as the year that the potential of digital care delivery became a reality.”
Consumer tech products are taking a physical beating during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, said Asurion, which sells a $25 monthly electronic repair and protection service called Asurion Home+. The company experienced a nearly 65% jump in repairs of broken or disabled electronics during the peak of second-half 2020 lockdowns, compared with the same 2019 period, it said Tuesday. “Since the pandemic began, people have heavily relied on their home tech to connect with family and friends, shop for essentials or simply to stay entertained,” said Asurion. “This heavy use has led to a rise in tech breakdowns, including screens going black, slowing down or suddenly not working.” The incidence of broken TVs nearly doubled, while computer repairs jumped 35% and tablet repairs 40%, it said.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is looking forward to the economic recovery “and the return to prosperity,” post-COVID-19 pandemic, but progress will be slow, CEO Steve Hill told a Senate Commerce Tourism Subcommittee hearing virtually Tuesday. “We do hope to be able to speed that up,” said Hill. “People in this industry need that. They need their jobs back.” The first step in the recovery "will be moving beyond the health crisis,” he said. “Continuing the vaccination process is the key to making that happen. We need to get to the point now where socially distancing is no longer necessary. Like many destinations, Las Vegas doesn’t work well without a crowd.” LVCVA gets a “good portion” of its funding through a “fixed percentage” of Las Vegas hotel room taxes, said Hill. “It’s a good indicator of the health of our tourism and hospitality industry.” LVCVA “typically” gets about $300 million annually from that funding and expects about a third of its “normal revenue” in the fiscal year ending June 30, he said. “We are projecting next year that we will receive about 70% of our normal room tax revenue. So we will show improvement, but it’s only about halfway of where we need to be for the next 12 months.” The June 8-10 World of Concrete construction industry show at the Las Vegas Convention Center is the “first large trade show” in the U.S. returning to an in-person format since the pandemic began, said Hill. It’s a show that “typically” draws about 60,000 attendees, he said. “We don’t think it will be that size, but it will be a major show, and we look forward not only to that show returning, but it’s serving as evidence, an example, of how to do this right.”
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Steve Hill is among witnesses scheduled to testify before a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing Tuesday at 3 p.m. EDT on the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotels, conventions and “the broader hospitality industry.” The hearing also will probe COVID-19's “regional impacts” on “tourism-heavy economies.” MGM Resorts Regional Portfolio President Jorge Perez also is scheduled to testify.
The 2021 U.S. box office will finish 119% above that of pandemic-plagued 2020, assuming current release slates hold, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. Colliers sees 2022 coming in 123% above 2021 but 10% lower than 2019. Many lower-budget films slated for theater release “shifted to streaming to quickly recoup production budgets, while most large-budget films were pushed to 2021 and 2022,” Frankel said. Estimates are subject to change based on the “fluidity” of the release slate and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Colliers’ covered exhibitors now have more than 90% of their circuits open, and capacity limits have bumped up in some major markets including Los Angeles. But attendance levels“will not materially improve until tent-pole titles return to theatres, and studios clearly prefer the lower risk of releasing tent-pole titles when vaccines should be widely distributed in the U.S. and Europe." Colliers assumes “massive pent-up demand” for movies out of the home in Q4. Netflix scored an important exclusive licensing deal, "when few are available," said Frankel of the five-year deal the streaming service inked to have Sony films play on Netflix in the U.S. after their theatrical and home entertainment runs. Starting next year, Netflix gets streaming rights to all of Sony’s theatrical releases, plus first-look rights to Sony’s direct-to-streaming content, some of which Netflix agreed to produce. The deal is significant for Netflix, with many of its earlier exclusive licensing deals expired and content pulled back by Disney and WarnerMedia as they look to shore up their competing streaming services, Frankel said. Epix and MGM, meanwhile, opted for exclusive partnerships with Paramount+, and NBCUniversal is reportedly considering pulling its content from HBO Max and Netflix to shore up its Peacock service. NBCUniversal didn’t comment Monday.