In quietly announced moves that could make massive noise in the video industry, in particular mobile video, the Instagram and TikTok video platforms have both revealed that they are exploring new options to allow content creators to charge a subscription fee for their videos.
2021 was been the year that TikTok has firmly established itself in the TV environment. In January 2021, the State of Mobile 2021 report from App Annie found that was that TikTok's cross-app usage with leading video services had grown markedly over the previous twelve months. In the US, 2.3x the usage penetration of Netflix's iPhone user base used TikTok in Q4 2020 compared with Q4 2019. Then further demonstrating how much its reach and importance has grown into the mainstream video arena, TikTok signed a deal with European football governing body UEFA to become the first digital entertainment platform to partner with the EURO 2020 tournament. In November 2021 TikTok TV announced that it was bringing its app to the Google TV platform and other Android TV OS devices, as well as LG smart TVs and Samsung smart TVs.
Autumn 2021 research from intelligence cloud for streaming media Conviva found that Instagram TV (IGTV) has grown rapidly since its 2018 release, up from a 2% share in 2019 to a 10% share of Instagram posts in 2021. The data showed that carousel posts – that is those posts with multiple photos or videos - grew from under 15% of all posts in 2019 and 2020 to 20% of all posts in 2021. Together, carousel and IGTV posts accounted for 30% of all posts in the first half of 2021, double the share commanded just two years prior. Carousel posts had the highest engagement rate of any post format, ranging from 1.2% for brands to 5.4% for sports accounts. Carousels including video resulted in 17% greater reach, 16% more impressions and 12% more engagements than image-only carousels. Conviva also found IGTV posts have a surprisingly long shelf life, receiving only 63% of their total views on the first day of posting, compared with 85% for carousels and 72% for standalone Instagram videos. Carousels get 7% of their views on the third day and beyond, videos 19%, and IGTV a significantly higher 29%.
Analysts say that by trialling such new subscription service model, TikTok and Meta-owned Instagram are trying to position themselves as the marketplace of choice for video content creators, evolving from providing creators with a platform and an audience to showcase their work to offering a way for them to monetise through subscriptions.
“Subscriptions are a robust and stable business model which will enable content creators to start more intimate, long-term relationships with their audiences. If you want to work in the commercial arts today, your imagination should be wild and free, but your finances should be nice and boring. By exploring a paid subscription model TikTok is taking a step in the right direction towards making this a reality,” said John Phillips, general manager at subscription order-to-revenue operations platform Zuora.
“We are living in the golden age of content creation. There is so much more music to explore, so many new movies and shows to watch, so many new voices to discover. Whereas previously producing and distributing videos was confined to a handful of creators with expensive equipment, now with smart phones everyone is their own producer. Power has become decentralised.
Source: https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2022012461944/instagram-tiktok-test-paid-for-content.html#axzz7ItZb57Uw
