In 2022, creators will come on TV. Hereâ€™s why

Since user-generated content prevailed, individuals and small companies are realizing that they would benefit from building up communities by publishing relevant content. Soon the term ‘creator’ emerged. A creator is someone who creates content for a living or as a hobby. For example, all good YouTubers are considered creators.

With the rise of the creator, a huge trend started in utilising them monetarily, which brings us to the term: creator economy. This means that a completely new market boomed, covering creators and their communities.

First small steps towards OTT

Most video creators are already available to watch on the TV screen through platforms such as YouTube or Facebook Watch. Still, there is little to no notice given to the audience on TV by creators. The majority of viewing time is happening on mobile, while many creators see just a couple of percentage points of their viewing time happening on TV apps.

Yet, with the rise of OTT and its opportunities, the TV screen is becoming an operable choice for dedicated content distribution for creators at the point that, in 2022, we will see an imminent shift of focus of the creators towards the TV screen.

Why are creators coming to TV?

The quality of content

As creator content is improving, thanks to better talent, cameras, and other tools, their productions are now of such high quality that they are adequate even for TV screens. In addition, while a large number of video creators now focus on short-form videos like those on TikTok, a fair share of talented creators go in the opposite direction by producing TV or movie-like episodes. Despite being mostly unscripted, these creators manage to tell a truly engaging story in a 10–30-minute video.

Specialised content

There is a huge relocation in consumer behaviour and viewing patterns. Instead of mainstream Hollywood content, people are demanding specialised content that perfectly fits their interests. Creators discovered how to successfully produce specialised content and build up their communities around it. The TV screen is the next advancement to amplify their proven business model.

It’s easier

Broadcasting on TV is becoming more accessible and affordable. Until recently, creating broadcasted Television was excessively expensive. Therefore, producing this type of media was only accessible to a few corporations and studios. But now, theoretically, anybody can host videos on a server and publish applications on Connected TVs such as ROKU, Amazon Fire, or Android TV.

Support is wider

Services such as Streamfire are entering the market that supports creators in publishing their content and building an audience on TV. So basically, creators only have to focus on creating content while the service takes care of everything around publishing.

Expanded distribution

Many creators started out by becoming successful on one platform. While this turned out to be very effective in terms of reaching high audiences in a short time, relying on just one platform for your business is uncertain. Platforms are shaking up things by frequently changing their policies or algorithms. YouTube removing the viewable dislike button is the latest example. Therefore, expanding the content on TV will stabilise the future of creators.

In conclusion, in 2022 we will see a good deal of new creators on the TV screen. Eventually, this will reshape the whole OTT climate by fulfilling various niches with fascinating content and communities.

Authored by Niklas Trenkler, Founder & CEO of Streamfire, which provides a free online TV network that exclusively broadcasts creator content.