The battle is played from an early age.

The “Alpha generation”, a new marketing target designating those born after 2010, for example, has never got into the habit of watching a youth program at a specific time.

For them, "television has really become the box in the living room", according to David Kleeman, vice-president of international trends at British game designer Dubit, adding that children on average have a smartphone from the age of 8 in majority of the 20 countries surveyed by his company.

A sign of the times, this media expert came to explain to television professionals gathered in Cannes for MIPTV, the sector's second largest international trade show, how to prepare for the metaverse, which he defined as "a kind of 3D internet" where you can navigate from one world to another through an avatar.

The challenge ?

Keep in touch with the youngest, caught up in video games like "Minecraft", "Fortnite" or "Roblox", precursors of the metaverse.

These "media platforms" have become "the playgrounds of the 21st century", underlines Frédéric Cavazza, managing director and co-founder of the firm Sysk, specializing in digital transformation.

Meta (Facebook) provides an update on its efforts to build the metaverse Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV AFP/Archives

Kids can play it, make friends, travel to different worlds, create or watch concerts, mega-events with jaw-dropping ratings: over 33 million viewers for rapper Lil Nas X on "Roblox" in 2020 and nearly 28 million for artist Travis Scott on "Fortnite" the same year.

In the United States, more than half of 9-12 year olds play "Roblox" at least once a week, which has also become the number one place where children spend their pocket money, according to the latest biannual study by Dubit.

- Loss of advertising budgets?-

Eventually, television risks losing advertising revenue, believes Matthew Warneford, founder of Dubit.

Currently, "2.8 billion people play games, Roblox has 200,000 players" and advertisers' money goes "inevitably where people spend time", anticipates the leader with AFP.

"The TV channels are at an impasse", adds Frédéric Cavazza, for whom "the TV advertising agencies do not know how to sell" advertising formats adapted to the metaverse, such as product placements or immersive advertisements.

Opposite, the televisions, which for many have already carried out virtual or augmented reality experiments (which makes it possible to superimpose digital images in reality such as the game "Pokemon Go" or smartphone filters), have not yet announced flagship launch into the Metaverse.

The British public group BBC, which has a research and development laboratory, told AFP that it shared "no project for the moment" but was "always on the lookout for new technologies".

Its French counterpart, France Télévisions, launched a trial balloon in February, during the last Winter Olympics, by recreating a virtual studio of its program "Stade 2" where the user could try bobsleigh or slalom. on skis.

“We are still in a phase of analysis and reflection on what we can do with these universes”, explains to AFP Kati Bremme, from the innovation direction of France Télévisions.

The idea being to offer more to the public by giving access to worlds or places that are not easily accessible to the general public, adds the innovation specialist.

Cartoons, discovery of the heritage, sporting events: the tracks are numerous.

But, "if we want to remain relevant in the future, we will have to position ourselves on a maximum of these uses in order to be able to reach all audiences", admits Ms. Bremme.

It also remains to find a viable economic model, the cost of "immersive" universes can range from 30,000 euros for the simplest to several hundred thousand euros to create a new 3D world.

© 2022 AFP