Everyone's running to CTV -except Twitch

What does that tell us about the future of this non-social medium?

About a decade ago, all the big media companies were tripping over themselves to parter with a company you don’t remember called Zeebox.

Viacom, HBO, NBCU were all about this would-be second screen app that promised to bring the social experience to TV. NBCU went as far as hosting multiple Social TV events that year - and eventually parent company Comcast put money into Zeebox.

I remember having lunch with some folks from NBCU a few months after that deal, and one of them sighed and said, “fucking Zeebox.”

Needless to say, mass adoption of a single TV companion app never happened (unless you count Twitter) - and social TV eventually ceased to be something anybody talks about or seems to want.

Except that it happens every minute of the day, on Twitch.

I thought of Zeebox when I recently interviewed Sarah Iooss, Head of Sales, Americas at Twitch on the Next in Marketing podcast I host. Iooss, who spent a long run at Viacom before going totally digital, talked about just how communal Twitch is.

“We were always looking for this,” she said. “The idea that if you put television and social media together, you could have this interactive experience.”

“That’s actually what Twitch is,” she added. “It’s the television that talks back to you.”

It’s true that if you spend time on Twitch (and I rarely if ever do), it is remarkably participatory. Yes, fans watch favorite influencers play games, cook, play competitive chess, etc. etc. But you don’t just sit there. You interact with the talent, ask questions, chat with regulars on channels, you vote, you tip, you share. You do stuff, which is so unlike TV for many of us that like to zone out into the world of Ozark or whatever.

Here’s what’s really interesting to me. At a time when every company in video - from CBS to YouTube to TikTok - is racing toward connected TV and that red hot ad market, Twitch isn’t.

TV seriously doesn't do it for these users.

According to Iooss, about 40% of Twitch’s primarily 16-to-34 year old audience can’t be reached through traditional TV. And 10% of them never watch any TV.

Certainly, take any self-reported data from a media property with a grain of salt. But directionally this is telling. For Twitch devotees eyeing whether to watch ‘regular TV’ “the difference is whether you are participating or not,” she said.

While some people watch concerts via Twitch on smart TVs, the majority of Twitch’s viewership is on desktop computers, where you lean in and join the stream.

The Zeebox dream, but way better.

What does this tell us if anything about where CTV is headed - or needs to head? I’m not sure. It’s possible that Twitch users are just a unique breed of hard core digital natives. And it’s worth noting that a big part of Twitch’s audience is outside of the US.

Still, when you think about how integral commenting and sharing is to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc., and how fans of creators feel an intimate connection with their favorites - is the TV experience going to always feel to static and passive to these generations?

The counter-argument to this is that millions of Gen-Z-ers who regularly stream Euphoria or watch three-hour super hero movies. Not everything has to feel live, social and Uber connected. Maybe.

If anything, sports seems desperate to be Twitch-ified. It’s an awful lot to ask these younger viewers to plant themselves on the couch for three hours to watch other people play something while they do nothing. That’s why I’ll be fascinated to see what Amazon does with Thursday Night Football this season, and next year if the company does indeed nab NFL Sunday Ticket. If fans gravitated to an alternative Monday Night Football broadcast featuring the Manning brothers goofing around, getting a bunch of Twitch influencers to present a game or two their way seems to be a no brainer.

Amazon has an incredible chance to reinvent how sports are broadcast…and with that, what is actually presented on the screen. Maybe fans are talking to commentators, or each other. Maybe they’re making gifs, sharing snippets of plays. Maybe they’re betting. Maybe brands get to find their way into live action, and not just during commercial breaks. Maybe fans will be able to buy stuff right in the middle of plays.
I have no idea if Amazon or the NFL is contemplating anything of the sort. But clearly, if they’re going after this audience, just watching won’t cut it.