Brands and Social TV: The Next Big Entertainment Power Move
When traditional entertainment companies consider a social-first strategy, the common question is: how do we make it profitable? This is a valid concern but does not have a straightforward answer.
Traditional entertainment relies on significant up-front funding to cover production costs for TV shows and movies. The industry accepts these costs because there is a clear understanding of how to recoup them and generate profit through streaming subscriptions, advertising, box office sales, or rights licensing.
Social platforms, however, use a different monetization model that traditional entertainment struggles to match. Creators on social media turn their channels into profitable businesses by adopting a "create, publish, and optimize" cycle. They produce short, lean content quickly, distribute it on social platforms, and rely on audience analytics to refine engagement strategies.
This agile approach contrasts sharply with traditional TV production, which can cost between $50,000 and $500,000 per minute of filming and take from 10 months to two years to complete.
"One question is often asked when traditional entertainment companies start exploring a social-first strategy: how do we make it pay?"
"Creators turn their channels into well-monetised businesses with the create, publish, and optimise approach."
Author's summary: Traditional entertainment faces challenges adapting to social platforms' fast, data-driven content cycles, making monetization strategies difficult to transfer directly.