TikTok ramps up connected TV push

A new job listing from TikTok reveals the social platform’s goal to find a new home on TV screens. It is currently seeking a product manager of user growth, which according to the job listing will focus on driving the “TikTok Connected TV product strategy, value proposition and growth.” A qualified applicant needs experience in user experience design, with optional “prior experience in building apps for TV," according to the listing. For the past four years, the social media platform has been striving “to get TikTok onto every screen in the universe,” read a LinkedIn post from Isaac Bess, TikTok’s global head of distribution partnerships, adding the company “got most of them, just a few more to go.” TikTok—now boasting over 1 billion monthly active users—has already started making inroads in the CTV space, with apps on Fire TV, Vizio, Google TV and Samsung. It appears it is looking to take its explosive growth in short-form entertainment onto living room screens. Similarly, YouTube is also looking to expand into the CTV space. According to a recent report from Protocol, the Google-owned platform showed what appeared to be a CTV-integrated interface for its YouTube Shorts content during a recent internal partner event. The event also teased greater smart TV integration for YouTube’s music-streaming platform and new multi-stream capabilities for YouTube TV, creating an entire suite to compete with multiple facets of the digital entertainment market. TikTok’s job listing and YouTube’s expanded CTV functionality reflect efforts to replicate the success of short-form video from mobile to TV screens.

TikTok ramps up connected TV push

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