Audience Engagement
1 min read

‘In the UK, it’s about survival’: Why UK publishers aren’t going all-in on video

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While publishers in the U.S. have “pivoted to video” in droves, those in the U.K. haven’t done so to the same degree, due to a smaller market, fewer VC-backed publishers and comparatively less reliance on Facebook.

The much-mocked term “pivot to video” has become a catch-all phrase for replacing text-based journalists with video specialists. Since 2016, publishers like MTV News, Fox Sports, Mic, Vocativ and Mashable have all laid off writers to focus on creating more video. The argument is people want to watch video, and with programmatic display advertising stagnating, there’s more potential to make money through video’s higher CPMs.

In the U.K., it’s a slightly different story: Video’s importance is increasing, but not at the expense of other formats. Much of that is due to the fact that the U.K. has fewer venture-backed media companies scrambling to live up to inflated expectations, comparatively less Facebook dependence, and a less perky video ad market.

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