There’s no slowing down media’s pivot-to-video 2.0
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the pressures of creating content for the internet, follow Mia Sato. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Almost exactly a decade ago, the media industry was in the middle of a video revolution - or so it thought. In the mid-2010s…
Key points
- Media outlets are investing in social video again, a decade after the first pivot-to-video failed.
- Pew found 20 percent of Americans regularly get news from TikTok, rising to 39 percent among ages 18 to 29.
- Platforms are now pushing longer, higher-production video, which could raise costs for publishers.
The media industry is in the middle of a second pivot to video, The Verge reports, roughly a decade after its first attempt ended in layoffs and instability. In the mid-2010s, publications hired video teams and relied on platforms like Facebook for reach, only to pull back after Facebook was found to have inflated video views.
This time, social media feeds are dominated by video, driven by TikTok's growth during the pandemic. YouTube now accounts for nearly 16 percent of TV viewing, according to Nielsen, and Pew found that 20 percent of Americans regularly get news from TikTok, a figure that rises to 39 percent for people aged 18 to 29.
How outlets are adapting
Some news organizations have embraced short-form video and formats popularized in the vertical era. CNN worked with the channel Jubilee on a town hall with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, and The New York Times launched a vertical series called "The Call." Outlets including The Washington Post have also built creator networks, and a program supported by Poynter and Microsoft pairs content creators with news outlets.
You can’t eat views.
— Mia Sato, The Verge
The problem with views
The article questions whether attention on social platforms translates into money or loyal audiences. It notes that platforms now count "views" as the number of times a post was served in a feed, whether or not someone watched it, and asks how many people who see a clip go on to read the full story or subscribe.
The ground is also shifting again, with platforms such as YouTube and Instagram pushing longer, higher-production video. The BBC struck a deal with YouTube in early 2026 for special programming and announced a 24/7 YouTube livestream.
