Traditional TV Is Declining, but Social Media Is Rising

Image credit: Ajeet Mestry via Unsplash

TV was everything to me growing up. The iconic box in the corner of the room brought me joy, laughter and tears in abundance. From the confines of a council house in south Wales, it transported me to the vibrant lights of London. It was also the undisputed champion of marketing for decades - dominating where ad agencies spent money and target consumers with direct impact.  

So landing my first telly job in the early 2000s was life-changing. I got in by sending an old trainer to a TV company with a letter saying ‘Now I got my foot in the door, give me a job’ (true story). I wore my ID pass on the tube for all to see, I was proud as punch to break into an industry I’d also looked at in awe. But a few years later, I got curious and I began to get intrigued by this new phenomenon called social media - and I’m so lucky I did. 

Fast forward to 2024, and the television landscape is undergoing a seismic shifts. A survey conducted by the union BECTU revealed that a staggering 68% of unscripted freelancers in the UK find themselves unemployed. Esteemed TV entities such as RDF have pulled down the shutters for the final time, and the forecast for the new financial year appears bleak. 

BUT… there is something exciting happening in the world of social media. Nielsen just announced that YouTube has been the top streaming service in the US for a solid 12 months in a row (sorry, Netflix!). And according to Ofcom's Media Nations 2023 report, broadcast TV's weekly reach has taken a significant dip from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022 - talk about a shift in the tides!

Many of my ex-TV colleagues are feeling lost, despite being brilliantly talented. I know some of my past work friends have only worked three weeks in the last nine months and are desperate to find something more secure… and now is the perfect time to pivot into social. 

There’s an army of people who are already making social content within the traditional media landscape that we can lean into. They bring with them a ton of experience, creativity, and a knack for working under pressure. At Coolr Studios, we've welcomed these talented souls with open arms. 

35% of our studios team worked in traditional TV before using their experience to move into social media at Coolr. Our head of video, Mez Beni, worked in TV development, our senior producers, Adam Bacon and Chris Filsell, made the social content for The Repair Shop and a social channel for SnapChat, and Kyra Bruce-Konuah worked at BBC Three making the social content. These, alongside many others of my talented colleagues, are making over 100+ branded videos a month and 200+ designed assets for some of the nation's most loved brands, from Deliveroo to umtree and Samsung to Lidl. 

They all joined the social train because it has more creative freedom, it’s a more dynamic and faster paced environment, and the final eyeballs on your work are considerably greater with instant gratification. I remember the first time I posted a video and woke up to see two million views - I was like the excited child watching the TV in the corner of my room again.  

Of course, TV is resilient (Who didn’t love Gladiators?!) and I will always have a deep love for it, but the power of social media is indisputable. 6bn of us will be social media users worldwide by 2027 (Statista 2023)… that is not a number to be sniffed at.