Could TikTok Crash the TV Party?

The red hot video app is sneaking its way onto the smart TV menu

Two years ago I was at CES, and one of the many manufacturers showing off dazzlingly large and or thin or curved TVs was also touting a new feature that allowed people to watch TikTok on their TV screens.

I thought, no one wants that. The kids that watch TikTok don’t watch TV anyway, right?

That was of course, a long time ago in TikTok history. Thanks to an unparalleled algorithm, a proliferation of content and undeniable cultural cache, TikTok is bigger and broader than ever. In fact, as 2021 was closing, it was reported the TikTok had eclipsed Google as the largest web domain on the globe. That’s no small feat.

Just before Christmas, the Information’s Martin Peers predicted that 2022 should be TikTok’s year, while pointing out that ad spending has a ways to catch up to the apps massive usage. There are a bunch of reasons for that - including the fact that advertisers move slowly, and the very real challenge TikTok faces in comparison to Facebook, Amazon and Google in that it’s not all about logged in users who buy lots of stuff (yet). Digital advertising is still primarily a performance business.

TikTok in many ways sits in a similar position to YouTube a few years ago - where it’s trying to grab a bit of digital video video money, some social dollars and ideally capture some TV budgets. It’s been a long journey for YouTube, but the Alphabet site is succeeding on the TV money front in part because it’s become a significant factor in actually TV viewing. Alphabet says over 100 million people watch YouTube one their actual smart TVs, in the living room.

A few years ago, I likely said something dumb like, ‘no one wants to watch YouTube on TV.” I’m wondering if I was just as wrong about TikTok.

Somewhere over the past few months, a TikTok app appeared on my LG TV app lineup (I do next to nothing in terms of installing or arranging what apps on my TV - they are just there. that may not be normal).

We’ve throw it on several times, and TikTok really works on TV, in terms of sending you down fun ratholes, or just funny stunts and videos. We are really careful with our kids and TikTok, but it’s easy to see they could get sucked in if you gave them parameters - or free reign.

Outside of our family, I could absolutely see people throwing TikTok on at a party - given its mix of music-driven clips and lots of comedy. I could also see people using it to stream their favorite TikTok cooking channels for example, as they might even work better on a big screen.

That said, you also lose something that is fundamental about TikTok - the intimacy, and the mobile-oriented UI, which is all about swiping to what’s next. Let’s be honest, I’m probably not the right person to evaluate this TikTok-to-TV theory, since I’m not a power user and not in the core demo (even though lots of demos are on TikTok).

So I could be wrong, but I sense real potential there. The company itself seems to be invested. Thanks to Omicron, I wasn’t at CES this year, so I can’t say for sure what the buzz was. But I did notice that TikTok was out with a slew of announcements in this realm, including deals to have its content on TV screens in Westins and Taco Bells

“We're showcasing the creativity of our community among new audiences that might not understand what the TikTok experience looks like, or the diversity of content our platform has to offer,” TikTok’s Head of Global Business Development, NewScreens Dan Page told Protocol. Makes a ton of sense, as does a TV from Samsung that is designed to better display vertical content, as well as TikTok’s recent integrations with Amazon Fire TVs and Android-powered devices.

If TikTok’s usage on TV ever takes off - which is still largely theoretical - it could seriously shake up the TV ad market. Suddenly, brands could have the choice between running ads on old free shows on the average AVOD platform to full screen TV ads on one of the most immersive, addictive apps around.

To me, that could be one of the biggest ad stories to watch in 2022.