Zach Oscar
As seen in:
MediaPost,
Gridiron Heroics
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Zach Oscar
Mythbusters: LinkedIn Edition
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 29 minutes ago One of the greatest myths ever told is that people like advertising. Sure, they like Super Bowl commercials, but ads in general? I don’t think so. Nowadays, everywhere you look, people are trying to get away from ads through subscription services, even paying higher premiums to avoid them. The follow-up myth is that an ever-growing subsection of digital natives -- gamers -- like advertising even more.
This Year's Streaming War... No, Not That One... Or That One... The Other One
While other MediaPost newsletters and articles remain free to all ... our new Research Intelligencer service is reserved for paid subscribers ... Subscribe today to gain access to every Research Intelligencer article we publish as well as the exclusive daily newsletter, full access to The MediaPost Cases, first-look research and daily insights from Joe Mandese, Editor in Chief. Become a subscriber today! If you're already a paid subscriber, please sign-in. Username Password Forgot?
Buckeyes First Road Game
Buckeyes Travel to East Lansing Heading into week 6 of the college football season, the Ohio State Buckeyes have their first road test as they face the Michigan State Spartans. This is the 51st meeting between these two teams. The game will be broadcasted on ABC at 4 p.m. this Saturday. Coming into this game, the Spartans have lost three straight games and the offense has not looked good. It’s hard to imagine the Michigan State offense being able to keep up with the number 1 scoring offense.
Browns Coaching Fails Team
Somehow Joe Woods still has a job. Last Sunday was laughable and painful for Cleveland Browns fans. The Browns defensive issues are not from a lack of skill. But, the Browns defense continues to underperform under the calling of Joe Woods. This past week, Browns fell against the Falcons and the coaching staff is to blame. The defense being set to defend the pass when the offense has only ran is doomed from the start. The Browns coaches failed their players and fans.
Williams Carries The Load For Buckeyes
Miyan Williams’ Big Game The Buckeye’s run game has been a two-headed monster this season with William and Henderson. However, TreVeyon Henderson was out, giving Miyan Williams the bulk of the carries. Clearly, Williams could handle the workload as he demolished the Rutgers defense Saturday. Williams rushed 21 times for 189 yards and five touchdowns, tying the school record of five. All this while thrashing the Scarlett Knight for nine yards per carry.
Chubb Ready For Return To Georgia
Chubb’s Massive Start to the Season Nick Chubb’s start to the season is a major reason why this offense has looked as good as it has to start the season. Undoubtedly looking like his best start to a season in his career, Chubb has rushed for 341 yards and scored four times. Doing all this while being efficient with his runs, averaging about 5.5 yards per carry so far. Chubb is leading the league in rushing yards through three weeks, and in week four returns to Georgia.
Brissett Achieves Browns Milestone Against The Steelers
Following a disappointing week against the Jet, Browns bounce back in a big way against the Steelers Thursday night. Jacoby Brissett undoubtedly had his best game as a starter for the Browns. Brissett set the franchise record for passer rating in a primetime game with it being 109.6. He finished the night with 220 passing yards and two touchdowns, also converting some big first downs as well. Nick Chubb and Brissett had the offense rolling as it usually does and the defense stepped up as well.
The Cleveland Browns Players Need To Play With Focus
Can’t Blame Nick Chubb Following a disappointing and improbable loss to the Jets, fingers were pointed at all Browns. However, Nick Chubb shouldn’t hold any blame from the Jets game. Chubb had 110 total yards and three touchdowns, including a touchdown that put the Browns up two scores with less that 2 minutes in the game. Chubb is this teams MVP and shouldn’t be blamed for this loss. He did everything he could to set the Browns up in a position to win this game.
JSN And Fleming's Return Bolsters The Buckeyes
Buckeyes Start to the Season The first two weeks of the college football season, where the Buckeyes have scored a total of 66 points and have had a total of 791 yards on offense. Firstly, Jaxson Smith-Njigba returns to action after getting hurt in the first quarter of the Notre Dame game. Julian Fleming returns after being sidelined for the first two games versus Toledo. Furthermore, this game was a blood bath style game with the final being 77–21.
Still Casual, But Less Dirty: Mobile Gaming
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 6 minutes ago About a year ago, I explained that mobile gamers are, in the eyes of console and PC gamers like myself, "dirty casuals." This is not meant to be an insult, but rather an acknowledgment that the mass majority of mobile gamers are counted as such regardless of what kind of game they play on mobile devices. For example, people who play solitaire on their phones are just as much the "mobile gamer" as people who now play "Call of Duty" on mobile.
The 'Cyberpunk' Problem
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 7 minutes ago If you keep an eye on general news, you’re likely to have seen the name "Cyberpunk," a video game featuring Keanu Reeves set in a dystopian future with tons of cyborgs and body modification,popping up a lot lately. Normally, you would see news about gaming on specialty gaming sites, but this news has even gotten attention from outlets like The New York Times and BBC News. Why do so many people care?
Metaverse, Metaverse, Metaverse - Your Monthly Reminder
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 6 minutes ago Where can you find Baby Yoda & the Mandalorian, Wolverine, Kratos (the God of War from Sony's franchise), Iron Man, rapper Travis Scott, star streamers like Ninja, and the NFL? Fortnite. You can find them not just associated with the game, but actually inside the game itself. With the release of Fortnite's latest content drop, new additions like Kratos and the Mandalorian are available to players for use in-game.
Deepen The Data In Gaming And Esports - Get To The Gamer
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 6 minutes ago Data in gaming and esports has been either too general or just plain difficult to decipher, and usually a mix of both. When gaming started to catch the attention of marketers a few years ago, dataists sought to answer questions about who gamers were from a demographic perspective.
The Mystical Components Of 'Authenticity' In Gaming And Esports Marketing
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 5 minutes ago When talking about marketing in gaming and esports, “authenticity” is often emphasized, while “logo slapping” is heavily criticized. What exactly does “authenticity” look like to gamers, and how are brands getting it right? To me, the biggest two aspects of authenticity to gamers are interactivity and creativity within the gaming ecosystem. Why those two things? Gaming is one of the most interactive entertainment spaces out there -- if not the most.
Addressing Social Issues In Gaming And Esports: A Work In Progress
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 6 minutes ago For those who don't know, some of the critical social issues we are dealing with today around race, sexism, and representation are present in the gaming and esports world too. Women gamers are discriminated against, online chat forums toss around racial slurs, and even stories of games don't feature representative and diverse casts.
Not-So-Strange Bedfellows: Ford Models, Gaming Influencers And Fashion
by Zach Oscar , Op-Ed Contributor, 5 minutes ago At the beginning of August, Ford Models announced the creation of a gaming & esports division within the talent agency, headed up by Justin M. Jacobson, a gaming and esports attorney. Last week, I was excited to see that Bobby Solez, whom I spoke with last year about his streaming career, was signed on to the project alongside some other gaming and esports personalities and athletes. To many, this move must seem a little strange.
Tweaks To Twitch
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Last week, Twitch made a number of important announcements: Tyler “Ninja” Blevins: One of the world’s most popular gaming streamers, returned to Twitch via a multi-year exclusivity contract. Back in the early fall of 2019, Ninja signed an exclusivity contract with Microsoft’s streaming service Mixer (launched in 2016) as Microsoft hoped to bring over his massive 14 million-follower audience from Twitch to the new service.
A Lesson From Obi-Wan And Anakin On Interruptive Ads In Video Games
by Zach Oscar , 7 minutes ago Although the Star Wars prequels are widely considered to be “not so good,” fans did get a few things out of them that we continue to love to this day: Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi performance, more lightsaber battles, and most of all, timeless memes hailing from iconic scenes in the movies.
Enhancing Local Broadcast With Esports -- TEGNA And Beasley Media Group
by Zach Oscar , 5 minutes ago When it comes to esports and gaming, we’re almost exclusively talking on the global level. Between the game titles that esports teams play and the platforms that broadcast their matches, the audiences are tuning in from around the world. Over the past few years, TV networks like ESPN and ABC have tested bringing these industries -- particularly esports -- onto national TV. Now, they will go even deeper by entering the local level through TEGNA in Texas.
Big Name Entertainment Investments Continue To Pour Into Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 7 minutes ago It’s no secret that COVID-19 has given an extra kick to the gaming world over the past five months.
What VENN Launch Means For Gamers And Advertisers
by Zach Oscar , 7 minutes ago Over the past few years and in particular, over the past few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, gaming has taken a major spotlight in the entertainment world. Gaming content has existed and thrived everywhere from Microsoft to Amazon’s Twitch, YouTube and even Facebook. Now, Ariel Horn and Ben Kusin, co-CEOs of the Video Game Entertainment and New Network, VENN, are preparing to launch their much-anticipated platform on August 5th this year.
Implications Of The 'Fortnite' Movie And Video Screenings
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago At the end of June, Fortnite hosted three Christopher Nolan movie streams in-game -- "Batman Begins," "Inception," or "The Prestige," for free, for players to watch. On July 4th, they hosted a conversation about race and racism in America, “We the People,” hosted by Van Jones, rapper Killer Mike, Jemele Hille and Elaine Welteroth. Aside from the obvious level of “wow, who knew a game could do that” or “a screen within a screen?
Data Illumination In Gaming And Esports
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago In mid-May, I participated in a BIA-Kelsey Webinar on Gaming & Esports alongside Beasley Media Group, owner of Houston Outlaws Overwatch team and more, and two data providers, Comscore and MRI-Simmons. I presented an overview of the gaming and esports landscape, and explained their differences -- which are critical for any advertisers and ad agencies to understand when beginning to look at these spaces for marketing opportunities.
YouGov Sails Deeper Into Esports And Gaming Research With Nicole Pike At The Helm
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago I am not sure that there is anything exciting about pet food. Pets are exciting, food is exciting, but specifically pet food? When Nicole Pike started working at Nielsen over a decade ago, she worked on CPG research mainly around pet food, and despite her love of research, found it uninspiring.
Riot's New Title 'Valorant': Should You Care?
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Back in April, Riot Game truly became Riot Games with the launch of the closed beta for its second title, "Valorant," a tactical first-person shooter akin to the famed Counter Strike series. Starting June 19th, Riot is launching the “Ignition Series” weekend tournaments to kick off "Valorant" esports by partnering with esports companies, G2 Esports, an esports team, and RAGE, one of Japan’s biggest esports tournament organizations.
Advertising Enters Video Games At A New Angle Through Esports
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago In-game advertising in video games has been a subject of debate among gamers -- and a difficult mountain to climb for advertisers for some time. On the one hand, gamers are sick and tired of the mobile gaming advertising system that interrupts game play with advertisements, but on the other hand, many gamers recognize the video game ecosystem for what it is to many companies -- a business that can drive tons of ad revenue.
Twitch Launches An Esports Directory, Helping Solidify The Line Between Esports And Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago A few months ago, I sat down for coffee with Paul Brewer, SVP of Brand Partnerships at ESL Gaming, and asked him if he ever has difficulty making sure that he and the marketers he works with are speaking the same language about esports.
Traditional Sports Events And Fans Can Go Digital To Find Their Fix Via Esports
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Most live sporting events are going on hiatus due to COVID-19. In light of this, I recently highlighted the necessity for brands and advertisers to pivot into existing online realms -- given that there are no physical alternatives at the moment -- and encouraged marketers to look into esports and gaming.
Fortnite Brings Millions Together On Video Game For Live Music
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Last week, the mayor of Los Angeles publicly shared that many public officials are pretty sure that large gatherings like concerts and sporting events may not return until the fall of 2021. While you might be able to watch sporting events without audiences, or listen to concerts, bringing people together in the thousands in person would certainly be a risky move. Enter Fortnite, the video game gone cultural phenomenon -- the latest in live music venues.
Getting Involved In Gaming And Esports -- Where To Begin
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Over the past few weeks, as our lives have become almost exclusively digitized, we have seen many headlines about gaming and esports taking off. Gaming is up, and esports is hot. What are you supposed to do with that? Where does one begin? To get some insight, I reached out to my friend Nico Amantia, senior account executive at Scout Sports & Entertainment, a full-service sports marketing agency division of Horizon Media. Nico’s main clients are in the QSR industry.
In The Face Of Social Distancing/Shutdown, Gaming And Esports Hold Opportunity
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago As a result of the global crisis, workplaces, the economy, and interpersonal relationships are experiencing disruption. In the world of traditional sports, the NHL, MLB, NBA, and NCAA cancellations have no real replacement events. But with the power of gaming, events such as these can take on a different form and still engage their fans online.
Coronavirus Presents Significant Opportunity For Esports Industry, Says GlobalData's Sportcal
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago As a result of the global crisis, workplaces, the economy, and interpersonal relationships are experiencing disruption. In the world of traditional sports, the NHL, MLB, NBA, and NCAA cancellations have no real replacement events. But with the power of gaming, events such as these can take on a different form and still engage their fans online.
The Latest Pull In The Video Game Streaming Tug-Of-War
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago I have previously outlined the ongoing contest between Amazon's Twitch, Google's YouTube Gaming, Microsoft's Mixer, and Facebook Gaming. At the moment, Twitch continues to hold the lead position for live gaming content, accounting for 73% of live gaming hours viewed in 2019, vs. YouTube at around 21%, and with Facebook and Mixer at around 3% each.
Brand, Celebrity, and Sponsor Possibilities Continue to Grow with this Latest Fortnite Move
by Zach Oscar , 9 minutes ago Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has been one of the biggest (if not the biggest) names synonymous with gaming and esports for the past few years, but his career begins way earlier than his meteoric rise in 2017. He started streaming on Twitch in 2011, and was a professional Halo player on the Xbox, and steadily grew viewership over the following years. Then his big break came with the release of "Fortnite" in 2017 -- he grew from 500k followers to 2 million in just six months.
Twitch Brings In More Revenue Than YouTube Gaming -- What About Facebook?
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Founded in 2005, YouTube quickly became all the rage for on-demand content. Its positive reception led it to be acquired by Google a year later, and once YouTube was integrated with Google AdSense, loads of advertisers flocked to the emerging channel. YouTube had and continues to have great success. One of YouTube’s largest content segments remains the "Let's Play" format.
Gaming Evolution Into the Tune-In Realm
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Guess what? I bet you haven't heard this before: Adults under 34 years old are watching less and less traditional, linear TV. Although national TV is still the reigning champion for reaching audiences in the United States, it is falling off with younger audiences. Aside from live sports, which has maintained its status as the most-watched programming on television, TV viewing is dwindling for many generations Millennial and younger.
The Other Streaming War: Live Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Over the past few months, the “streaming war” between the Netflixes, Disney+s, and HBOs has occupied the attention of the mainstream traditional media. As soon as I saw a brand new Star Wars show on Disney+ and Baby Yoda, I knew they had me pinned (but I'm still using my parents' Netflix -- don't you worry). But away from the attention of traditional media folks, another streaming war in the same time period has exited its cold war phase and entered full on open war.
The 'Dirty Casuals' Of Gaming -- Understanding the Nuances Between Esports, Gaming, And Mobile Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 37 minutes ago Worldwide, the entire video gaming industry is worth about $140-150 billion. That's larger than the film and music industries combined, and only continues to grow. Opening weekend, the critically acclaimed Joker movie smashed many box-office records with $234m, but at the same time, the latest "Call of Duty" title raked in $600m. These are truly astonishing numbers.
Riot Games' Partnership With Louis Vuitton Shows The Future of Marketing In Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago Just this month, the League of Legends World Championship Quarter Final match broke the record for highest peak audience for an esports broadcast at 2.5 million viewers from around the world, beating Fortnite's record of 2.3 million.
Riot Games Evolves From 'Riot Game,' Brings New Opportunities In Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 7 minutes ago For a long time, it has been a running joke, even within Riot Games, that the company should actually be called “Riot Game” -- seeing as League of Legends was the only game of theirs that they made. Co-founder Marc Merrill even referenced the popular internet reference in his address to the League of Legends/Riot Games community debuting all the project announcements.
Sneakers, Streaming And Soul: How Bobby Solez Built His Brand Through Gaming
by Zach Oscar , 5 minutes ago Brands are activating the esports space to reach that tough 18-24 demo and foster a sense of community among gamers. Yet, esports is just a subsection of the gaming world. Now, the greatest awareness of gaming comes from streamers, people like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins who play video games on live broadcast for hundreds of thousands of viewers at a time. How can brands utilize streamers and their broadcasts? That’s a question every marketer and advertiser should ask.
Finally Admitting There's 'Something There' With Esports: How Brands, Advertisers Foster Community in Esports
by Zach Oscar , 6 minutes ago “This is my first esports event and it’s great! Now I understand why people watch sports.” A surprising and resonating comment from a young female audience member at the ESL One New York tournament for a game called Counter Strike at the end of September. Although I have seen plenty of esports, I shared her sentiment.
Let's Talk About What We're Talking About When We Talk About Esports
by Zach Oscar , 5 minutes ago Let's talk about what we're talking about when we talk about Esports… Esports, Ninja, Twitch, Fortnite. At this point, most people have heard of one of those four words, and have some sense that each is connected to gaming. Are they all connected to each other? Yes. Ninja plays the global phenomenon free-to-play game Fortnite, which he used to stream on Amazon's streaming platform Twitch (but recently he signed a deal to stream exclusively on Microsoft's Mixer).
There's More To Esports Than Just Esports
by Zach Oscar , 8 minutes ago Around Labor Day, Needham & Co.’s Laura Martin released a comprehensive report on the state of esports in 2019, which offers a number of recommendations and conclusions -- most importantly, the suggestion that investors begin to pay attention to the potential of esports as it grows in popularity in the United States.
Video Games Hit Jackpot: Esports Revs Expected To Hit $1.7B By 2021
by Zach Oscar , Ben Paro , 7 minutes ago As young teens, we wreaked daily havoc on alien colonies in our favorite PC strategy game, Starcraft. Subsequently, a separate battle waged in our homes between mother and son. “Go outside, this game will rot your brain!” they’d say, not caring at all for our troops under alien attack. Flash forward to the present, where competitive video gaming is a full-fledged global phenomenon.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Zach
Contact Zach, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack