TikTok Wants Time on Your TV Screen

I’m at Cannes Lions, where I spent the morning with TikTok’s marketing leaders. 

As YouTube has made expanding on living room screens a top priority, I’ve been curious if TikTok will follow suit. While TikTok tried launching an app for TV screens on Android a few years ago, the ByteDance-owned company hasn’t seemed to put much promotion behind it. And I’ve rarely heard TikTok talk about it. 

Executives on Tuesday said TV screens are an area they’re “seriously” looking at. “One of the things that we’re observing is a shift from TikTok being a social platform to being a full video platform. And that’s one of the investments that allows us to make that transition,” said David Kaufman, global head of product operations and solutions at TikTok, in response to my question.