TikTok is launching on smart TVs in France, Germany and the UK as part of a play to move into people’s living rooms and diversify its audience.
The short-form video sharing platform has announced that a version of its app will be available from today on Android TV on models produced by Sony, Hisense, TCL, Skyworth, Sharp, Phillips, Xiaomi, Panasonic and Toshiba.
The move, which follows the December announcement of a TikTok app for Samsung smart TVs, will make watching social media’s viral stars just as easy as streaming the latest Netflix or Amazon Prime series. Sea shanties and songs from Ratatouille the Musical could sit right next to The Sopranos and Bridgerton – if you need TikTok blown up on the big screen. And that’s a big if.
People who log in via their TV will see content based on their previous preferences, while for those who choose not to log in, TikTok will provide curated videos from twelve of the most popular strands of content in the smartphone app. It’s a bold move for the social media giant which has driven much of the cultural conversation during lockdown – but a risky one too.
TikTok is launching on smart TVs in France, Germany and the UK as part of a play to move into people’s living rooms and diversify its audience.
The short-form video sharing platform has announced that a version of its app will be available from today on Android TV on models produced by Sony, Hisense, TCL, Skyworth, Sharp, Phillips, Xiaomi, Panasonic and Toshiba.
The move, which follows the December announcement of a TikTok app for Samsung smart TVs, will make watching social media’s viral stars just as easy as streaming the latest Netflix or Amazon Prime series. Sea shanties and songs from Ratatouille the Musical could sit right next to The Sopranos and Bridgerton – if you need TikTok blown up on the big screen. And that’s a big if.
People who log in via their TV will see content based on their previous preferences, while for those who choose not to log in, TikTok will provide curated videos from twelve of the most popular strands of content in the smartphone app. It’s a bold move for the social media giant which has driven much of the cultural conversation during lockdown – but a risky one too.
You have this new dynamic of discovery and growth and pushing things into the mainstream, and you bring that to the very established behaviour of sitting down together on a chair or sofa around a shared screen, which has been a cherished part of family life,” says Rich Waterworth, TikTok’s managing director for the UK and Europe.
“When you bring those things together, it gets really exciting. You get this combination of niche internet trends which are now mainstream parts of culture, and you enable people to watch them together on the big screen.”
Industry experts say the move could be a big moment for TikTok, which is already growing faster than some of its major competitors. “With TikTok’s shareable content and restricted mode, it’s easy to turn the app into a family viewing experience,” says Fateha Begum, associate director for connected devices and media at Omdia Research.
That’s the rationale behind the move towards TV, says Waterworth. “One of the big trends we’ve seen over the last year is that not only is the audience broad, but people are often enjoying TikTok together, either as a whole family unit or with more than one person,” he explains. “Much more than this being about one particular age group, it’s reflecting that TikTok is often a shared experience.”
Omdia forecasts that use of Android TV on screens in France, Germany and the UK will double in the next five years, making it the second most popular operating system after Samsung’s Tizen. And user-generated video competitors like YouTube recorded record-breaking years in 2020 for time spent watching content on TVs, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki said last month.
The impact on TikTok’s bottom line could also be significant, says Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism, a US creative agency. “TikTok’s move into TV hints at their advertising ambitions,” he says. Right now the perception is the app skews young. So to court advertisers and compete with the other leading social platforms TikTok will need to increase their reach, data, and demographics. Being on TV could help.
It could also help keep its creator base – who often seek opportunities in traditional TV and film – engaged and happy in the face of courtship from other copycat apps. It could even change the way we perceive user-generated content says Karyn Spencer, CMO at Whalar, an influencer marketing company. “This announcement pushes us to challenge our brains to value content in a more democratised fashion,” she says. “If it’s entertaining, if it connects with us emotionally, it’s more convenient to have the option to view films on phones and social media on TVs.”
