Summary:

Chat messaging and where news media companies intersect to grow quality audiences and attract younger readers is of growing importance. Global trends point to skyrocketing usage, and media companies are experimenting with text-based chat bots and voice-based chat assistants.

Key themes in this report:

• Global data points to exponential growth in chat messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat.
• Chat messaging unveils the new practice of targeting micro-groups to offer a private and safe place for intimate conversations.
• Experiments with text-based chat bots and voice-based chat assistants, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• The rise of chat assistants on new AI devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home and where media companies like the Washington Post come into play at this “infant stage.”
• The emergence of a chat messenger strategy by media companies aiming to grow audience and engagement — especially one-on-one relationships.
• Media companies that are early adopters of chat messaging include Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA), Metro Belgium, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Clarín, and BBC World Service.

Who should read the report?

Executives at media companies charged with connecting with readers and audiences using new technologies.

Authors:

Martha Stone, CEO of the World Newsmedia Network and founder of the Big Data For Media Conference; Laurie Benson, a television, print, digital and event media executive with experience in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Tim Sohn, CEO of Sohn Social Media Solutions.

Detailed overview:

“Chat Apps and Bots: The Next Media Distribution Platform” looks at how seven news media companies on four continents have become early adopters and creative implementers of chat messaging practices.

Augmented by an overview of chat messaging platforms and global data, the report profiles WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat and the new practice of targeting micro-groups to offer a private and safe place for intimate conversations.

The report looks at:

• Experiments with text-based chat bots and voice-based chat assistants, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• The rise of chat assistants on new AI devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home and where media companies like the Washington Post come into play at this “infant stage.”
• The emergence of a chat messenger strategy by media companies aiming to grow audience and engagement — especially one-on-one relationships.

Media companies profiled for their chat messaging best practices include Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA), Metro Belgium, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Clarín, and BBC World Service.