TikTok is giving some customers the choice to add 60-minute movies to the platform. That would spell bother for YouTube and streaming giants.
The pilot was first publicly noticed by tech publication author Matt Navarra. TikTok confirmed the characteristic to TechCrunch on Thursday.
It’s unclear what areas the replace is obtainable in, and if and when will probably be accessible to extra customers. The corporate instructed TechCrunch it doesn’t instantly plan to roll out the 60-minute add perform extensively.
The replace is the most recent effort by the Chinese language-owned social media platform to develop its product choices as consumer progress slows. When it first launched, the platform solely allowed creators to submit 60-second movies. The restrict is now 10 minutes for all customers, and 15 for some creators. TikTok rivals Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts supply related add lengths.
The check places TikTok in the identical weight class as YouTube. It will let content material creators add movies that require longer durations, like in-depth tutorials or household and faculty vlogs, that are common on YouTube.
YouTube beats TikTok when it comes to general customers within the US. Greater than 80% of US adults instructed Pew Analysis Heart final yr that that they had ever used YouTube, whereas 33% had used TikTok. The short-form platform’s customers skew younger: 62% of 18- to 29-year-olds instructed Pew they use TikTok, and 93% of customers in the identical age bracket use YouTube.
However TikTok is forward of YouTube by minutes watched: Final yr, Enterprise Insider sister firm eMarketer predicted that in 2024, grownup TikTok customers would common 55 minutes per day on the platform — 5 minutes greater than YouTube’s common.
“Due to TikTok’s shorter content material, the platform dangers customers discovering clipped content material and leaving the platform to observe the total model on YouTube,” eMarketer analyst Sara Lebow wrote in December. “Growing video size may forestall a consumer from watching half of a video essay on TikTok and ending the content material on YouTube.”
Final week, BI reported that Google leaders are encouraging workers who promote advertisements to capitalize on the potential for a US TikTok ban by having “considerate dialog” with purchasers in regards to the ban.
TikTok didn’t instantly reply for BI’s request for remark.
The longer video characteristic can also threaten streaming providers comparable to Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. TikTok has an unlimited library of unofficially uploaded brief clips from common tv reveals and films, which customers binge-watch to see the present in full. Entry to longer movies of reveals could make this exercise extra commonplace.
Tv networks are tapping into TikTok, too. Final yr, streaming platform Peacock uploaded a pilot episode of its comedy present “Killing It” to TikTok. The episode, which was uploaded in 5 elements, acquired hundreds of thousands of views. An extended video period would imply episodes will be uploaded in a single go, and viewership could shift from streaming providers to TikTok.
