On June 23, VIZIO Smart TVs now allow viewers to watch videos from TikTok creators directly on the television. The TikTok videos will rotate in a carousel on the VIZIO homepage and VIZIO TV owners will be able to discover content from TikTok producers and subjects right from the smart TV home screen, without the need to sign in or download an additional app. The Parks Associates entertainment team spoke with Katherine Pond, Vice President of Business Development at VIZIO about the company’s new collaboration with TikTok and how it views the social media content from TikTok as a product differentiator.

When asked about this TikTok announcement Katherine said, “We did a custom integration with TikTok that has never been done before with a TV manufacturer.” On the OS home screen, VIZIO Smart TV owners will see deep links to various genres of TikTok content. The genres are curated by TikTok in the carousel, but what genre of content the viewer sees in those tiles progressively evolves based on algorithms tied to content viewing preferences. Pond went on to say that, “As a TV manufacturer, we have the hardware, software, and data to create these unique experiences and integrations that you can’t do if you are partnering with someone who is distributing in someone else’s environment. Owning the technology stack helps VIZIO differentiate the short video and viral viewing experience.”

While this is not TikTok’s first smart TV integration, the unique carousel on the VIZIO home screen is an industry first for TikTok on television sets. Once viewers interact with social TikTok content, VIZIO may leverage the resulting data to enhance program content experiences across its Smart TV platform. VIZIO believes the custom integration of deep links into all the trending social genres of content has positioned it to be the first TV manufacturer with a rich social content TV experience. Those with a VIZIO Smart TV and an existing TikTok account may additionally connect their accounts to see “For You” and “Following” video feeds on the TV screen.

Viewing social media content on the big screen is not new but having curated genres of content tied to users viewing habits on their living room TV is. TV manufacturers, aggregators, and all OTT services are looking for ways to simplify the consumer’s discovery process. These personalized social viewing experiences on streaming and connected TV environments might just simplify the content discovery process.

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Contributors: Alan Bullock and Tam Williams