I’ve been taking the pulse of society for a few decades now and at this moment I sense people are yearning for something fresh, exciting and fun after years of turmoil and strife.
I feel we are poised for an impactful entertainment experience that could snap us out of our collective malaise.
The current mood in America could be compared to late 1963, when a stunned nation mourned the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Americans needed an uplifting, unifying experience, and something big was about capture the attention of the baby boom generation.
If timing is everything, then the Beatles picked a perfect moment to storm America. Their first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” on Feb. 9, 1964, drew a then-record 73 million viewers.
Nowadays the American entertainment audience is splintered. It will be much more difficult for the “next big thing” to unite an audience fragmented into consuming video entertainment on broadcast television, cable channels and streaming services.
NFL games draw the biggest audiences these days on broadcast TV, reaching 18 million or so viewers at a time. Hit shows like “60 Minutes” and “Young Sheldon” pull about 9 million viewers per week.
That seems like a pittance compared to Ed Sullivan’s ratings dominance back when there were only three broadcast networks. It’s hard to imagine any TV program ever again reaching 73 million people at once.
The Super Bowl is traditionally the year’s highest rated TV show, and its audience dwindled to 37 million in 2022 from a peak of 47.5 million in 2015. “The Ed Sullivan Show” may have launched Beatlemania in the United States, but it seems unlikely that TV will launch whatever the “next big thing” may be.
Similarly, popular music has splintered into so many different genres it’s tough to conceive of any act attaining the cultural relevance of the Beatles. Billboard charts now track hits in rock, pop, country, dance, bluegrass, jazz, classical, R&B, rap, electronic, Latin, Christian, world and holiday music.
AM/FM radio is losing audience and relevance to audio streaming services. While some artists maintain integrity, commercial music seems to serve more as a distraction than commentary on social matters.
That’s quite a contrast from the heyday of rock music, when the Beatles seemed able to change the world with their messages of peace of love. American folk music artists could deliver stinging commentary on the ruling political class back in the day.
Consider the song, “Ohio,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The song is an anthem about how National Guard troops shot and killed four students at Kent State University May 4, 1970. Back then, music and television had the power to shape public opinion and change the nation’s mind about America’s role in the Vietnam War.
America may be ready for a unifying entertainment force in the near future, but it’s unclear what medium will be its primary vehicle.
The “next big thing” almost certainly will capture the attention of listeners or viewers on mobile devices. Perhaps it may resemble something like Pokemon GO, an augmented reality game that debuted in 2016.
Whatever it is, the “next big thing” will likely use audio and visual content to engage its audience across multiple platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and others.
I foresee a phenomenon that will be more substantial than a viral song such as, “It’s Corn,” which was adapted from a TV news clip about a boy expressing his love for corn on the cob.
Maybe it will be the metaverse, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a three-dimensional virtual world. Zuckerberg has reportedly invested some $100 billion on research and development for the project.
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However, reports indicate Zuckerberg’s metaverse could be a boondoggle. Facebook’s parent company Meta has little to show for its huge investment, its stock value has plummeted and it recently cut about 13% of its workforce.
“‘The metaverse will be our slow death!’ Is Facebook losing its $100bn gamble on virtual reality?” a headline asked Wednesday in The Guardian.
The metaverse sounds like it has potential to become an entertainment blockbuster, but there also are signs it could be a bust. Either way, it doesn’t sound ready for prime time.
The game Wordle is a daily diversion that seems to feature some elements that could define the “next big thing.” It’s fun, communal and many share their results on social media.
Wordle is popular among people of all ages, but I’m thinking of something with even bigger universal appeal. I don’t know what it is, but I sense Americans long for a unifying entertainment experience.
The social media site Pinterest on Wednesday announced its Pinterest Predicts 2023, its annual analysis of emerging cultural trends.
“Over 400 million people come to Pinterest each month to plan for the future,” according to Pinterest. “Because people turn to Pinterest to look forward and get ideas, the platform is able to leverage this search data to gain early insights and identify what’s coming next in the culture before it actually starts trending.”
Pinterest identified trends in fashion, home décor, health and fitness, but it lacks analysis of potential breakthrough artists in music or other entertainment. The closest Pinterest comes to predicting the next big entertainment fad will be pool parties for pets.
“Gen X and Baby Boomers are turning their attention to their fur babies and substituting kid-oriented gatherings with Pool pawties,” according to Pinterest. “Dogs diving! Puppers paddling! Barking belly flops! In 2023, pool parties will be for the dogs.”
It sounds like fun, but I’ll keep searching for signs of other trends that could be the “next big thing” that helps lift the nation out of its collective ennui.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.