Live is evolving. It has become a dynamic, multi-layered experience stretching across platforms, emotions, and phases of participation. It’s not just something you watch; it’s something you remix, react to, and emotionally revisit long after the moment passes.

In this first of a three-part trend series, we’ll unpack how culture, technology, and emotion are collectively rewriting the rules of real-time engagement.

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From Moment to Movement

Drawing from cultural signals, expert interviews, and a national survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, this report offers strategic foresight for brands navigating the new live. The modern “live” experience no longer begins and ends with the main event. It now unfolds across a continuum of presence, broken into three core phases:

• Real-Time Hype: The energy and anticipation leading up to and during a live event.
• Social Reverb: The ripple effect on social media, memes, reactions, hot takes, that keeps the conversation alive.
• Cultural Afterglow: The emotional resonance that lingers, deepens, and drives further engagement, even among those who missed the event itself.

Whether fans are watching a livestream, scrolling through highlights, or stitching TikToks into new narratives, the action no longer stops when the event does. Instead, “live” becomes something you enter and re-enter, emotionally, digitally, and socially.

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Gen Z and Millennials Are Leading the Charge

Younger generations are redefining what qualifies as “live.” Millennials and Gen Z are twice as likely as Gen X to count a meme, viral recap, or social clip as a live experience. This shift is especially pronounced in sports: 39% of fans say they feel cultural afterglow even when they’re not watching the game, while 20% report strong social reverb from highlight reels and reactions alone.

More than half of respondents say social media makes them feel more connected to live events, and 58% say they’ve explored featured talent solely because of post-event content.

In other words: presence is no longer bound to place or time. It’s about feeling like you’re part of something, whenever and wherever you plug in.

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What It Means for Brands

To compete in this fluid landscape, marketers need to rethink their approach to live engagement:

• Think Beyond the Broadcast: Winning brands will master all three layers of live.
• Design for Echo, Not Just Exposure: The most memorable content isn’t always the most polished—it’s the most shareable, remixable, and emotionally resonant.
• Track the Full Lifecycle: Leverage Horizon’s “Live Engagement Scorecard” to benchmark brand performance across each layer—from real-time visibility to social velocity to long-tail cultural traction.

For brands, it’s not just a broadcast window, it’s an opportunity to build cultural momentum before, during, and after the moment hits. Stay tuned for part two of the series.

Source: Horizon Media, Finger on the Pulse. May 2025, n=2,000

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Redefining Live Podcast Summary

Part One: Exploring the New Multi-Layered Reality of Real-Time Experiences

Download the full report below.