What?
TikTok is rolling out two new ad formats aimed at helping movie studios and streaming platforms convert views into subscriptions and ticket sales.
The new offerings, Streaming Ads and New Title Launch, are designed to capitalise on the popularity of clips from shows and films on the platform.
How does it work?
Streaming Ads is powered by Smart+, TikTok’s AI-driven campaign automation suite. The format serves real clips from multiple shows within a streaming platform’s catalogue to users who have demonstrated a strong interest in entertainment content.
Rather than promoting a single title, the ads spotlight several shows at once, appearing as either a video carousel or an interactive card displaying different titles. Crucially, the ads can guide users directly from the TikTok feed into a platform’s subscription flow, positioning the product as a lower-funnel performance tool.
TikTok says that during early testing, 80% of Streaming Ads campaigns outperformed comparable non-Streaming Ads campaigns.
Alongside Streaming Ads, TikTok is introducing New Title Launch, an ad format built to support major releases and so-called tentpole moments.
The product targets high-intent users based on signals such as favourite genres and pricing sensitivity, with the aim of converting fandom into sales at the point of peak interest. According to TikTok, 60% of New Title Launch promotions exceeded advertisers’ stated CPA goals during testing.
Why is TikTok pushing streaming ads now?
Film and TV content already performs strongly on the platform. TikTok says more than 6.5 million posts related to film and television are shared on the app every day, while almost half of users report discovering older movies or TV shows through TikTok. Both #FilmTok and #MovieTok saw a 50% increase in posting activity in 2025.
Platform research also suggests that four in five users say TikTok influences their streaming choices, while TikTok users are significantly more likely to maintain a streaming subscription compared to non-users.