Can the smart TV become a canvas for content creation?

YouTube’s growing strength on smart TVs is a head scratching moment for the video industry. The social video platform recently revealed that US consumers watched 1 billion hours of YouTube content daily on their smart TVs in December 2024. Such is the consumer appetite that the smart TV now outstrips the smartphone when it comes to time spent on the social video platform. A similar trend has also been playing out in MIDiA’s consumer data. Smart TV owners over-indexed for weekly usage of YouTube at 77% in Q4 2024, compared to a consumer average of 70%. Both data points are higher than Netflix weekly usage at 72% and 66% respectively.

This shifting of the guard is a threat to the streaming TV industry. SVOD strategy will need to evolve if it is to make long-term subscribers of a generation brought up on a diet of free content on social. Steps are being taken by SVOD services to meet the challenge head on, but the approach lacks depth. It has focused too heavily on migrating social audiences to streaming TV services by commissioning creators to make TV shows or licencing their social content. Greater attention must be given to creating a versatile content experience that is tailored to time-poor consumers. A full breakdown of the tactics needed can be found in my upcoming report being published this month (Friday 28th February 2025): Streaming TV’s fight on social’s stage, tactics for a short-form video future.

However, for smart TV and video streaming stick manufacturers, YouTube represents a near-term opportunity to grow social video engagement. Part of this will come from YouTube’s rivals pursuing a more aggressive smart TV strategy. Despite vertical video being ill-suited to the living room screen, TikTok’s smart TV app has been around for several years, and the platform is serious about incentivising creators to make more long-form content. TikTok has some way to go before catching up YouTube, which has a more complex video strategy of live sport, streaming TV aggregation, pay TV, and a long-standing video podcast business alongside social. But even without such a diversified offer, nearly half of video streaming stick owners (48%) used TikTok each week in Q4 2024.

But looking at the social engagement opportunity from just a consumption perspective would be a mistake. Content creation represents untapped engagement opportunity that could yield bigger rewards for time spent. While combining content creation and smart TVs may feel like putting a square peg in a round hole, consumer behaviour and social platforms are evolving to make this relationship viable. Here are the converging forces that make it possible:

• Smart TVs and smartphones are forging a closer relationship: The smartphone continues to pose a threat to smart TV engagement, especially when it comes to entertainment multitasking (e.g., scrolling Instagram while watching a movie). However, the growing sophistication of second screen strategies are making smartphones less of a risk to smart TV engagement and more of a tool for enhancing the experience. For example, Sky Sports partnered with Dizplai to create a companion app for its live boxing coverage that enabled viewers to point score each round on their smartphone. Meanwhile, Netflix created an app that turned its smartphone into a gaming controller for playing its in-app games on a smart TV. Both approaches show how the smartphone can be used to unlock interactivity for smart TVs.
• AI is simplifying content creation: AI tools are simplifying content creation by streamlining complex workflows into a few simple steps. Processes that previously took hours of work on desktop video editors like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro can now be achieved in minutes on smartphone video editing apps like CapCut. This not only makes content creation more versatile and immediate but liberates creators from needing heavy-duty hardware. While some early-stage creators may not have a desktop computer, they are likely to have a smartphone and access to a smart TV. This comes as the likes of YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram continue to narrow the gap between creating and consuming by releasing their own on-platform AI creator tools.
• Video streaming stick users are also creators: More than half (54%) of video streaming stick users are creating content, whether casually / for fun (36%) or for a creative project / business (18%). By leveraging the technological developments above, smart TV and streaming stick manufacturers can create fresh opportunities to increase engagement with a suite of content creation apps for smart TVs.

The most compelling case for content creation on a smart TV is the chance to transform what tends to be the home’s largest and best-performing screen into a giant canvas. The smartphone should accompany the process as a multi-tool (per Netflix’s games controller app) for engaging and manipulating footage or audio on the big screen. Given most AI tools can be used with a few a simple clicks, a smart TV remote control with voice command could also prove a compelling companion.

However, this should not present itself as an opportunity to introduce more complex creative processes. Some workflows may be easier to perform on a smart TV screen than a smartphone, but the smart TV is not and never should become a de facto desktop monitor. Instead, features should seek to marry the smart TV’s image quality with a highly entertaining, engaging, and gamified user experience. The smart TV first and foremost is about entertainment.

This opportunity has the potential to widen the scope of app development for smart TV manufacturers. Not only could it widen engagement for existing smart TV apps like YouTube, but it could also open up the screen to long-standing creator tools companies like Adobe or generative AI start-ups like OpenAI’s Sora.

The smart TV should not feel pigeon-holed as a consumption only device. Only by embracing creation behaviours will it maximise its reach with those modern consumers who want to watch and create in equal measure.