TikTok’s latest deal could mean its videos are coming to waiting room TVs near you
TikTok has already conquered our phones and TVs at home, but its next target will ensure you really can’t escape from cute pet videos, impressive feats, and oddly satisfying clips. According to a report from TechCrunch, the popular short-form video platform has partnered with Atmosphere, a startup that drums up the content to ambiently play in the background when you’re eating at a restaurant, lounging in a hotel, or sitting in a waiting room.
Atmosphere already delivers content to places like Taco Bell, Texas Roadhouse, Burger King, and even Meineke, letting clients choose from a number of “channels” that suit different environments. And now, TikTok will get a channel dedicated to curated videos from the platform.
TechCrunch says that Atmosphere essentially repurposes the videos it gathers, whether it’s from YouTube or TikTok. It then removes the audio, adds its own music (or potentially leaves it audio-less, since some venues keep their TVs on mute), slaps on a caption, and subsequently adds it to the stream of videos that make up a specific channel.
The lack of audio means you won’t be able to hear the trendy jingles you typically hear on a TikTok video (but maybe that’s for the best). As for how the creators behind the videos get compensated, TechCrunch notes that Atmosphere gets creators’ permission and works out a deal — it even gets some of its content for free, as the company essentially promotes creators by playing their videos in public areas.
You can check out what the TikTok channel might look like in a demo on Atmosphere’s site. The stream shows TikTok videos organized by hashtag, like #lifeisrandom and #coolrunning, which is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen. Atmosphere also added its own music and set the videos against animated backgrounds. Creators’ usernames remain visible in each video, albeit probably tough to read from far away.
TikTok has already conquered our phones and TVs at home, but its next target will ensure you really can’t escape from cute pet videos, impressive feats, and oddly satisfying clips. According to a report from TechCrunch, the popular short-form video platform has partnered with Atmosphere, a startup that drums up…
