Why TV Networks May Want To Get Back to Learning Content
In today’s digital age, traditional television is facing fierce competition from social media platforms for viewers' attention. While TV once dominated as the primary source of entertainment and information, social media now offers all of that and more, on-demand and personalized. There’s a reason why many people are saying YouTube is basically synonymous with TV now.
One area where things are taking off in social is around learning content (how-tos, DIY, etc). New research from Tubular Labs reveals that in 2024, learning content averaged significantly higher engagement and views than platform-wide content across social networks for a variety of categories. For example, engagement around learning content on Instagram grew by 47% year-over-year, and on YouTube, videos within the topic snagged 15.2% more views per video than platform-wide content.
In the past, TV networks such as Food Network and HGTV used to be a primary destination for people wanting to learn new recipes or get home improvement tips. Not anymore — tune into Food Network and you’re more likely to see Guy Fieri in some decrepit diner or one of its seemingly infinite baking competitions. Maybe it’s time for TV networks to stop shoving things like that down people’s pie hole and get back to actually teaching viewers something useful — because, as Tubular’s data shows, people ARE craving instructional content.
Take Facebook, for example: Across the food & drink category, learning content averaged 13K more views per video than platform-wide content. Additionally, influencers earned 11.2% more views and 6.7% more engagements per video on food & drink learning content vs. platform-wide content.
There’s an opportunity for TV networks here to leverage these viewer trends: Among the top Facebook topics within food & drink learning content, DIY is the fourth most-viewed topic but only the ninth most uploaded. Tubular notes that “this indicates a growth opportunity for creators who use DIY-related terminology in the labels, captions, hashtags, and verbal scripts of their videos.”
