YouTube TV might be losing subscribers thanks to price hikes, but YouTube on TV is dominating–and TikTok and Instagram want a piece of that.
As you may have heard, since YouTube takes every available opportunity to talk it up, YouTube is now not only the most-watched streaming service in the U.S., but also the most-watched anything. Nielsen data shows it’s officially generating more watch time than any linear or broadcast TV network. That’s a big deal for YouTube, which has been pouring effort into its living room TV ambitions for years (and, in doing so, stirring up the ire of streaming service execs like Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos).
According to The Information, TikTok and Instagram owners ByteDance and Meta are planning to chase YouTube’s success by introducing TV apps of their own. Both apps will frontload short-form content, which will make it difficult for them to come anywhere close to YouTube’s TV watch time.
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In Meta’s case, a person familiar with the matter said the app would be populated with Reels–not a surprise, since it recently made all Facebook videos into Reels in an attempt to unify video publishing across platforms (and maybe also to pump up Reels’ numbers a little bit). There apparently aren’t many other details.
As for TikTok, however, things have more development oomph. The Information reports TikTok staff have spent the past six months strategizing their app. They have a clear goal (appealing to older viewers) and instead of pulling from TikTok’s base library of content, they’re trying to find ways to encourage higher-production-value videos that will look good on TV screens.
TikTok might have more concrete ideas here because it previously launched a TV app back in November 2021. If you didn’t know that app existed, don’t worry, you’re not alone. TikTok didn’t promote it much, and appears to have pulled it earlier this month.
Neither Meta nor TikTok would comment on these potential apps. It’s worth noting, though, that TikTok’s Global Head of Product Operations and Solutions, David Kaufman, told Cannes Lions attendees last week that “the living room is definitely a new frontier for us that we’re taking very seriously.”
We get it: YouTube is driving immense viewership and–crucially–an increasing amount of advertising revenue through living room TVs. And, as of right now, it’s pretty much unchallenged. Meta and TikTok obviously see a competitive opportunity here.
But streaming services and traditional TV networks with billions of dollars behind them have fallen in YouTube’s wake, and those are companies whose entire goal is getting people to watch content on TVs. What chance do Meta and TikTok stand? They’d stand a better one if their users posted the sort of engaging long-form content YouTube is known for, but that’s never been the bread-and-butter of Reels or TikTok. Will living room viewers want the same mindless swiping experience on their TVs? Who knows.
Either way, these apps seem to be on the horizon, so we’ll find out soon whether YouTube’s TV superiority can be duplicated.
