How TikTok is the new TV
How TikTok is the new TV
…and why political campaigns and organizations should pay attention
FWIW, this week’s newsletter is sponsored by Civic Shout
Whattup! This is the Mutuals Media team jumping in on behalf of Kyle and Lucy this week. Mutuals is a media network and content studio for the vertical video age founded by us: Gen-Z content creators and political strategists Amelia Montooth, Emmet Sandberg, and Roman Papademetriou. Let’s dig in.
TikTok is the new TV. Longtime FWIW readers understand the digital landscape better than most. And even still, that claim might sound absurd. But we’re not the only ones saying it.
So what is everyone talking about? How does TT = TV?
For starters, Gen-Z media consumers use their phones to watch content like it’s TV. They are not “cord cutters.” They never had a cord in the first place. In fact, Gen-Z spends less time watching traditional TV than any other age group, while Gen-Z TikTok users spend an average of 77 minutes per day on the app. TikTok’s growing market share of Gen-Z attention is even coming for the big streamers like Netflix – more than 50% of Gen-Z have canceled a streaming service in the past 6 months, and 66% would prefer watching TikTok over streaming.
It’s not just watch time that makes TikTok our generation’s TV – it’s the content formats themselves. In recent years, highly-produced serialized “shows” have begun popping up on TikTok and across other vertical platforms. You may have seen Gov. Tim Walz and VP Kamala Harris make news for going on two of the most prominent TikTok shows, Subway Takes and Track Star, in the same way they would appear for an interview with Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Kimmel. Since most Gen-Z consumers watch Colbert or Kimmel in the form of a clip on their social feeds anyway, these shows function to their viewers in the exact same way. The only differences are on the production side: TikTok shows are filmed vertically, average a 90 second to two minute run time, are optimized at every step to play to the algorithm and go viral, and are produced at a fraction of the budget of traditional TV.
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Subway Takes and Track Star are just two examples of the types of shows that we believe are ushering in a new era of entertainment. There are many more, including Boy Room and Street Hearts, from upstart short-form production studios that are bringing MTV-style game show production to the app. Blue-chip brands and advertisers like Google, Amazon, and McDonald’s have already taken notice of this trend, using these influential platforms to promote their products. As this space matures, we believe Hollywood will as well – adapting short-form series for the big screen (see Hot Ones on Netflix and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Hulu for a taste of what might be to come).
Gaydar, the first series from our network, Mutuals, is one of the most popular and rapidly growing new shows on TikTok. Published twice weekly, comedian and content creator Anania (2.5M+ followers) asks strangers about queer culture, community, and anti-queer policy, to determine whether they are gay, straight, or a homophobe. Everything about the show, from the premise to the guests, is entertaining and attention-grabbing, which has allowed the show to grow a massive audience very quickly. Since its launch six weeks ago, Gaydar has generated 28M+ views and 125K followers on TikTok and Instagram.
What sets Gaydar apart from many of its counterparts though, is that it’s also informative. Anania asks questions that teach the audience about who created the Don’t Say Gay Bill and how many anti-trans bills were passed this year. Here’s what’s critical for political groups and campaigns to understand: This type of content is the perfect way to reach non-news consumers and young audiences who are skeptical of more straightforward political content. It’s instead reaching them in more entertaining ways with political information they wouldn’t normally see in their feeds.
Leading with culture and entertainment has long been a part of the right’s playbook. Networks like Barstool Sports aren’t perceived as overtly political, despite their CEO’s very conservative ideology, which is imbued in their content. This kind of “Barstool conservatism” makes an impression on their young male audience (and their ballots) without getting into the weeds of policy and elections.
The Left doesn’t have that kind of “always on,” entertainment-first media infrastructure – yet. But Mutuals and others are starting to fill that gap. By leading with the pop culture, comedy, and entertainment we all love, and without shying away from our progressive values and important news content, we’ve proven that we can both entertain and educate.
As this space matures, progressive organizations need to take notice. FWIW recently covered a Pew Research survey that showed 48% of young people say they use TikTok to watch political news content. Progressive organizations and campaigns have done an excellent job reaching that audience. But what about the other 52% of Gen-Z users who will never see a news or politics post in their feed? Or even those 48% who still primarily see entertainment content? Progressives need to invest in more creative solutions to pierce the algorithmic filter bubbles and grab attention, and entertaining, short-form series are one cutting-edge way for them to do it.
(If you want to chat more about the vertical video entertainment landscape, you can reach us at info@mutualsmedia.com)
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Digital ad spending, by the numbers:
FWIW, political advertisers spent just over $31.7 million on Facebook and Instagram ads last week. These were the top ten spenders nationwide:
Last week, it appears that right-wing groups have paid the fake news network Metric Media to run ads that look like news articles that promoted “National Voter Registration Sunday” to Christian voters in swing states, especially North Carolina. Unsurprisingly, the site that the ads link to… then essentially tells voters not to vote for Kamala Harris.
As threats to election workers have started to roll in as we head toward Election Day, the 501c4 group States United Action is pushing back with video ads in support of Secretaries of State in NC, AZ, MI, and NV with the aim of re-building confidence in the Democratic process and pushing back on election deniers.
Meanwhile, political campaigns spent $31.9 million on Google and YouTube ads last week. Here were the top ten spenders nationwide:
Perhaps in order to make up for limited digital spending from the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee has spent over $350,000 in the past month alone targeting Michigan voters with video ads boosting Trump and attacking Harris.
…And some spenders are looking beyond this upcoming election: the Nevada-based group Vote Yes on 3 is running video ads urging Nevadans to support a ballot initiative that would allow open primaries in Nevada – which could shake up the electoral math in the Battle Born state after 2024.
On X (formerly Twitter), political advertisers in the U.S. have spent $10.5 million on ads year to date. Here are the top spenders:
…and lastly, on Snapchat, political advertisers in the U.S. have spent $8.7 million on ads year to date. Here are the top spenders:
Presidential head-to-head
FWIW, here’s how weekly digital ad spending (Facebook/Instagram, Google/YouTube) compares between the Trump and Harris (formerly Biden) campaigns year-to-date:
The Harris campaign had its second-highest spend of the year on digital ads last week, dropping nearly $23 million.
At the same time, the Trump campaign has begun running ads from the Facebook pages of a few new personalities: they are running them from Alina Habba, a senior advisor on the Trump campaign, and Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, in addition to Lara Trump (and yes… it does seem like it’s mostly women this cycle 👀).
The Trump campaign had done this last cycle with former campaign manager Brad Parscale. The Harris campaign is also advertising from no less than 10 Facebook pages, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s, in addition to some custom brands like “The Daily Scroll” and “Memericans.”
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What else is happening on TikTok?
The Harris campaign’s viral Tiktok account, @kamalahq, has officially passed one billion views. We have that data and much more in in this week’s FYP newsletter 👇
More from around the internet:
The Harris campaign hosted a huge event with Oprah Winfrey last night, streaming the sit down to hundreds of thousands of people. It was a clear throw back to the format of Winfrey’s legendary 90’s era talk show.
Republicans in North Carolina have a very large mess on their hands.
Meta announced this week that RT, the Russian state media outlet, has been officially banned from its apps globally because they had engaged in “foreign interference activity.”
TikTok had its day in court, where the platform’s lawyers argued that banning the app this January would be a violation of the First Amendment. The judges reportedly seemed pretty skeptical of the app – but have yet to reach a decision.
White dudes for Harris just released its first ad and announced a major new ad buy.
Team Kamala’s embrace of the brat aesthetic has posed a major question: do online vibes lead to more votes? This series of interviews with first-time Gen Z voters – some of whom were won over by brat summer – points to yes.
Snapchat apparently has some major plans and updates in the works in a bid to rival TikTok.
PS. Are you in DC next Tuesday? If so, join me and others at COURIER’s Vibes to Votes event at Sixth and I for an evening of interviews and panels on what the campaigns need to do to win big in November. Details here >>
That’s it for FWIW this week. This email was sent to 23,522 readers.