TikTok and Instagram are reportedly working on TV apps, following YouTube’s success

TikTok and Instagram are both looking to follow the path YouTube charted with its YouTube TV service, which currently has an estimated 9.4 million subscribers. The two social-media companies are reportedly building apps that are designed for TV viewing.

The services, which were first reported by The Information, won’t be quite the same as what YouTube offers, however. Meta’s entry in the field would reportedly be populated with Reels. As yet, no other deals with broadcasters have been signed.

TikTok, however, is said to have spent the past six months working on the best way to approach the app, which seems to be with higher production-value videos. (TikTok previously had a TV app in 2021, but didn’t promote it heavily and it was pulled earlier this year.)

While there has been no official comment from either Meta or TikTok about the reported apps, TikTok’s Global Head of Product Operations and Solutions, David Kaufman, told Cannes Lions attendees last week that “the living room is definitely a new frontier for us that we’re taking very seriously.”

Beyond the capital earned from those subscription fees, YouTube’s streaming TV service has kept eyes on the app, increasing viewership of native short videos.

“These social networks are seeing how well YouTube has done in the living room and how they’ve really cemented themselves as one of the top streamers,” eMarketer analyst Minda Smiley said on a recent episode of the Behind the Numbers podcast. “I’m surprised it took this long.”