The TikTok TV Conundrum
Which side needs to become the other more?
TikTok remains in a weird spot. A potential ban this April still looms, yet President Trump clearly wants to keep it, and there seems to be growing confidence that a deal will be made to spare the massively popular entertainment app.
I asked a bunch of ad executives about whether TikTok will make it during a recent panel, and all of them said yes.
As for advertising on TikTok, well:
A new report from WARC this week says that TikTok is on pace to pull in $30 billion this year, and that most advertisers are taking a business as usual approach.
Yet at the same time, a Business Insider post detailed how, during this weird limbo period, TikTok is not a fun place to work as the pressure and uncertainty mount.
Some brands are still hesitant to spend with TikTok, and pricing appears to be dipping
There’s little evidence that TikTok’s usage, or cultural significance is slipping. But one thing that would surely help TikTok stay on more media plans is a bigger screen.
Meaning, TikTok is still being penalized, in some circles, from not being on TV.
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To be sure, TikTok is technically available on TV screens. The company has had a streaming app since at least 2021. I have it on my LG TV. People can also cast TikTok from their phones to some TVs.
I can find no evidence that anyone actually does this. I asked pretty much all the measurement companies this question recently, and no one had any TikTok on TV streaming data. I’ve never seen TikTok in the Nielsen Gauge report.
There may be a few very good reasons for this. First of all, scrolling is inherent to the TikTok user experience, and it’s just not the same on a remote-controlled TV.
Second, as someone pointed out to me, your TikTok algorithm is your TikTok algorithm. I’m not saying you’re into weird stuff, but do you want your TikTok algorithm display on a 50 inch TV for the whole living room? That might feel like someone reading your texts.
Some folks inside TikTok have talked about trying to create a more communal TikTok CTV experience that can be enjoyed with friends, but right now, TikTok on TV seems stalled.
Why does this matter? Well, you talk to some buyers and sellers, and TikTok does get the ‘you’re not on the glass, so you’re not getting my budget’ response. Which is especially easy to throw out there in light of YouTube’s encroachment onto the television.
Still, you can make a very strong argument that TikTok, if it survives a ban, is doing just fine, growing faster than Meta per WARC. Of course, it stands to reason that the ByteDance folks, or any new US owners, would like a real shot at TV budgets.
In the meantime, TikTok still threatens to encroach on TV-viewing time, particularly among young audiences. And as much as TikTok might want to emulate aspects of TV, the TV networks and top streamers are surely wrestling with whether they should borrow aspects of TikTok’s scrollable, algorithm-driven feeds.
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Sure, TikTok and streaming are pretty distinct viewing experiences, with TV being far more intentional. But given how hard it is to find a show to watch, and how many people are showing an inclination to watch shorter-form (i.e. YouTube) content on TV, it would seem to behoove some TV players to experiment here.
Besides trying some kind of algo-streaming mode, one area where top streaming companies may want to mimic, or even partner more, with TikTok is shopping. While the CTV world experiments with and hopes for making shoppable TV a reality, TikTok Shop remains a force (so much so that it push more brands and creators to set up shop in Mexico if a ban happens). Consider the recent after effect from the Super Bowl, when searches for Kendrick Lamar’s jeans spiked right after the half time show - on TikTok - and American Eagle was there to pounce.
You might wonder, couldn’t someone in the TV business have anticipated this sort of thing? Why couldn’t you search for and buy such jeans during the game, through your TV set, a retail partner, or via Tubi? We’ve been talking about the “buy Rachael’s sweater” thing for decades, and basically TikTok’s doing it.
So maybe TikTok doesn’t need TV as much as TV needs TikTok? It’s certainly debatable.