Reveals Voter Sentiment Amongst Candidates, Uncovers Suspicious Viewership Activity, and Indicates Top Streaming Creators & Channels

FRISCO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / October 31, 2024 / Stream Hatchet, a streaming analytics and business intelligence platform and wholly-owned subsidiary of GameSquare Holdings (NASDAQ:GAME), ("GameSquare", or the "Company"), who recently launched an AI-Powered Influencer Discovery Tool for connecting brands with creators, today published its Politics in Live Streaming Report just ahead of the upcoming U.S. election.

As young voters turn away from traditional media like television broadcasts, this report sheds light on how live streaming platforms have become critical spaces for political engagement, particularly among Gen Z and first-time voters eager to participate in real-time discussions.

"Live streaming has become a pivotal space for political discourse, changing the way audiences interact with current events in real time," says Eduard Montserrat, CEO of Stream Hatchet. "At Stream Hatchet, we're dedicated to delivering the insights that help our clients navigate this evolving landscape and harness the power of live content."

Amongst this ecosystem of live engagement, Stream Hatchet tracks insights across major platforms like Twitch, YouTube, Kick, AfreecaTV, and Facebook. The Politics in Live Streaming Report reveals an astounding 513% growth in political streaming activity, underscoring the shift towards interactive, digital entertainment. The report indicates major trends including viewership, who are the top political creators, what are the top streaming channels on YouTube, and what candidates receive the most positive or negative sentiment.

Additionally, when analyzing YouTube Live data for this report, Stream Hatchet, uncovered a suspicious amount of channels that either changed names or were deleted indicating the possible presence of "view botting," or sending bots to channels to falsely boost viewership.

Key Insights

• Platform Engagement Spike: Political viewership surged during major events like the Trump vs. Kamala Harris debate, which had 9.5 million peak viewers, illustrating that critical election moments are now experienced in real time by interactive audiences.

• Gen Z's Platform of Choice: Over 117 million hours of "Kamala" or "Harris" streams were watched on YouTube Live alone, compared to 203 million hours for "Trump" streams.

• Positive Chat Sentiment: Minnesota's Tim Walz held the highest chat sentiment score (2.47 positive-to-negative ratio), reflecting new ways voters are expressing approval or disapproval in live interactions.

• Suspicious Channel Activity: In Q3 2024, nearly 35% of political live-stream viewership on YouTube Live came from channels flagged for suspicious behavior-either deleted or changing names soon after streaming. This group of channels averaged 16,000 viewers per stream, contrasting sharply with the 800-viewer average of legitimate channels, suggesting potential "view botting" to artificially inflate numbers and manipulate viewership trends.

• Top Streams on YouTube:

  • ABC News (5M): LIVE: ABC News Presidential Debate: Harris and Trump meet in Philadelphia

  • CBS News (2.1M): Watch Live: Biden and Trump face off in the first 2024 presidential debate, hosted by CNN

  • NBC News (2.1M): LIVE: Presidential Debate: Harris v. Trump Hosted by ABC News

  • PBS Newshour (1.2M): WATCH LIVE: Harris and Trump debate - PBS News simulcast of ABC's 2024 Presidential Debate

• Top 10 Political Creators

  • HassanAbi (30.9M)

  • Timcast IRL (9.7M)

  • JLTomy (7.5M)

  • The Dan Bongino Show (7.4M)

  • Steven Crowder (6.1M)

  • The Charlie Kirk Show (3.7M)

  • Benny Johnson (3.7M)

  • Destiny (2.8M)

  • Vaush (2M)

  • Barry Cunningham (2M)

Stream Hatchet's Politics in Live Streaming Report offers crucial and timely, unbiased insights from the next generation of voters who are choosing livestreams as a primary resource to access, discuss, and shape the political conversation.

To view the full report visit streamhatchet.com/reports/political-streaming-report-2024, or to connect with Stream Hatchet as a resource for data or insights, email info@streamhatchet.com.

About GameSquare Holdings, Inc.

GameSquare's (NASDAQ:GAME) mission is to revolutionize the way brands and game publishers connect with hard-to-reach Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Millennial audiences. Our next generation media, entertainment, and technology capabilities drive compelling outcomes for creators and maximize our brand partners' return on investment. Through our purpose-built platform, we provide award winning marketing and creative services, offer leading data and analytics solutions, and amplify awareness through FaZe Clan, one of the most prominent and influential gaming organizations in the world. With one of the largest gaming media networks in North America, as verified by Comscore, we are reshaping the landscape of digital media and immersive entertainment. GameSquare's largest investors are Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the Goff family.

To learn more, visit www.gamesquare.com.

About Stream Hatchet

Stream Hatchet is the leading provider of data analytics for the live streaming industry. With a suite of services encompassing a user-friendly SaaS platform, custom reports, and strategic consulting, Stream Hatchet is a trusted guide for those navigating the dynamic landscape of live streaming. The company has up to 7 years of historical data with minute-level granularity from 20 platforms, Stream Hatchet provides stakeholders in the live streaming industry with powerful insights to drive innovation and growth. Stream Hatchet partners with a diverse clientele - from video game publishers and marketing agencies to esports organizers and teams - who rely on the company's cutting-edge data analytics to optimize their marketing strategies, secure lucrative sponsorships, enhance esports performance, and build successful tournaments.

For more information visit www.streamhatchet.com.

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SOURCE: GameSquare Holdings, Inc.