Source: X plans to launch a TV app, which looks “identical” to YouTube's TV app, for Amazon and Samsung smart TVs next week
In a bid to compete with YouTube and recast itself as a video platform, Elon Musk's X is launching a television app for Amazon and Samsung smart TVs, a source at the company told Fortune.
FortuneKylie Robison
Context & Ripple Effects
X’s reported smart-TV push extends its effort to position video beyond its core social feed and directly alongside YouTube on living-room screens. The choice of Amazon and Samsung distribution puts the service on established connected-TV platforms rather than requiring a new device or standalone hardware channel.
If released as planned, X gains a dedicated large-screen viewing surface on Amazon and Samsung smart TVs, giving its video product a more direct point of comparison with YouTube’s TV experience.
Creators and prospective media partners get another distribution endpoint for X video, while viewers can access the service outside the mobile and desktop feed.
Second-order effects
A TV app makes X’s effort to court advertisers and creators more dependent on the quality, availability, and discoverability of video inventory; its later beta launch was explicitly framed around those groups.
YouTube faces a new interface-level rival on the same television platforms, though X must still turn social-video supply into a repeatable TV viewing habit.
Third-order effects
The move points to continued convergence between social platforms and connected-TV video services: audience reach increasingly depends on being present across mobile feeds and television app stores.
If platforms keep extending video across screens, competition will center less on device access alone and more on creator supply, recommendation systems, and advertiser-friendly viewing environments.
The trend: Social platforms are expanding from feed-based video into cross-screen video products that compete for connected-TV attention and advertising budgets.
I've Twitter free since early August, except for work stuff, and I do not miss it one bit. Threads hasn't fully replaced the feeling the bird app gave me during its best times but it has been a pretty good alternative. …
It was sad seeing the downfall of Twitter but the reality of its current state has definitely sunk in. So yeah, I'm looking forward to see more people leave the platform
It'd be great if the X video platform has the same ads on it that Twitter does and every 5 minutes of programming gets interrupted by a porn spambot begging you to click on her profile.
BTW! Twitter launched TV apps on at least three other occasions, with the first versions dating back to 2010. This latest attempt by @elonmusk comes after some luring of content creators... https://fortune.com/... [image]
Elon Musk doing a pivot to video play in 2024 is so funny. If he was doing all of this as a bit it'd be hilarious versus him earnestly mumbling They Want Video Online Now to one of the beebop/rocksteady cronies that follows him around as they laugh https://fortune.com/... [image]