Chris Best, Substack co-founder and CEO, has opened the way for his newsletter platform to join today’s TV wars.
“Despite what you might hear, people still read – we would know. But they watch video too, and sometimes that video is best on a TV,” Best tells The Hollywood Reporter. So subscribers to Substack creators, often with phones in their hands, can now download the TV app and watch video in their living room, initially on Apple TV and Google TV.
Substack is following the lead of Meta after it recently launched an Instagram Reels app for connected TVs, with the app available on Amazon Fire TV devices. Best adds that Substack will expand the platforms for its new TV app as it learns what works with its subscribers to drive engagement on small screens.
The goal is also having videos and livestreams complement editorial content on Substack to potentially bring in new subscribers. “One of the advantages of Substack is that you can publish in many formats with the same direct subscription relationship. People watch podcasts, videos, and livestreams, but they also listen to audio versions of their favorite written content. Having a first class presence everywhere your subscribers want to spend time with you helps,” Best says.
Substack had identified interest from its creators in technology allowing video posts and livestreams to be offered, especially for subscribers whose medium of choice include video, podcasts and live broadcasts. “We’ve also seen writers succeeding with audio versions of posts, and having live conversations around the ideas they write about,” Best indicates.
He adds another imminent innovation is allowing audio posts and previews of paid content for free subscribers to encourage upgrades to paid subscriptions. “Both free and paid subscribers can sign in to the TV app. Creators decide what they share with everyone and what they reserve for paying subscribers. That choice is core to Substack’s model,” Best says.
Substack has become a powerhouse among indie authors and journalists, and currently occupies a space somewhere between a social media network (think: pre-Elon Musk Twitter) and its core utility as a newsletter provider (where it has an increasing number of rivals). The company raised a $100 million funding round last year, putting pressure on the business to expand and grow its marketshare in the creator economy.
“The idea is that people can fall in love with your work and decide to pay, and that once they do you’ve got a direct channel to them that gives you the space to take some interesting creative risk beyond what might be possible under the algorithm on other platforms,” the CEO adds.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
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