This week, companies are looking for new ways to expand and grow. Meta is experimenting with their own app store and trying to put Apple and Google in their place in the EU. NBCUniversal is launching more FAST channels and has worked out licensing and distribution deals with Xumo and Freevee. Following other recent expansions, TikTok is looking to break out of their ecommerce mold, and taking on Amazon and Temu in the process. Also, new data shows that social media news consumption is down, and we’ve got the latest subscription jobs.

Meta experiments with local app store

Meta is looking to get a leg up on Google and Apple in European markets by launching their own version of an app store. Through Meta’s own local app store, users could directly download apps through Facebook ads, as well as take control over factors like app distribution and in-app payments, Social Media Today shared. According to The Verge, Meta will experiment with the idea with Android app developers later this year.

The European Digital Markets Act is a law designed to keep larger companies in check by stripping some powers that larger platforms like Google and Apple have, as well as create more competition in the digital space. The new act puts tighter restrictions on how these “gatekeepers” collect data, allows  users to uninstall preloaded apps on devices, and messaging services working together.

Companies must comply with this law by March 6, 2024, or they will be fined up to 10% of the company’s annual revenue, or up to 20% for repeated violations. Periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily turnover may be required. Additional remedies proportionate to the offense may also be imposed.

The Digital Markets Act would require Apple and Google to open their platforms to allow for alternative methods of downloading apps, The Verge shared. Meta wants to start allowing interested parties to download apps through Facebook ads. Through their pilot program, Meta would host Android apps, then let Meta download apps without getting kicked over to the Play Store. As of right now, Meta does not plan to take a cut of in-app revenue from participating apps. This would allow developers to use their preferred billing system.

This initiative could help Meta recoup some of their revenue after Apple made it harder to track users, 9 to 5 Mac suggested. Given that a lot of Meta’s revenue has come from advertising, it has taken a hit. Meta is inclined to believe that through ads, more potential users will download apps and help increase ad revenue.

NBCUniversal launches FAST channels

NBCUniversal is expanding their video on-demand options and has now launched new, free, ad-supported TV (FAST) offerings. Their new offerings come across their portfolio, giving users access to programming across all available genres at no cost. The new channels would allow for the licensing and distribution of almost 50 FAST channels, says StreamTV.

“NBCUniversal is in the enviable position of owning a vast array of iconic shows that are not part of our broadcast and cable networks to curate a valuable portfolio of FAST channels. These channels, with content from some of the most recognizable brands in television, will find an immediate audience in the growing FAST ecosystem, and create value for NBCUniversal, our distribution partners, and our advertisers,” Matt Schnaars of NBCUniversal shared in a June 29 press release.

NBCUniversal has signed deals with Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play for the complete FAST portfolio.

With the agreements, there will be dedicated channels for Saturday Night Live, The Real Housewives, Top Chef, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, as well as Spanish entertainment and news from Telemundo. In addition, there will be content from some of NBCUniversal’s older shows like Saved by the Bell, Lassie and Little House on the Prairie, Variety shared. NBC said that their new channels would find an immediate audience in the growing FAST ecosystem, creating value for NBCUniversal as well as distribution partners and advertisers.

“In this ever-growing entertainment landscape, we are proud to be a company that offers an extensive library of beloved film and tv series to fulfill the appetite of every viewer,” said Belinda Menendez, President & Chief Revenue Officer, NBCUniversal Global Distribution. “With decades worth of titles from various genres, audiences will now have more ways to find our popular content through this wide assortment of hand-selected FAST channels.”

TikTok set to enter ecommerce

TikTok is out on another venture, this time furthering its reach in shopping. They are planning to launch an online retail store as soon as next month, as reported by Semafor. The new platform could put the video-sharing app directly in competition with Amazon, Temu and Shein.

While TikTok already has an integrated Shop feature, a standalone shopping app would be different. Shop allows brands to pay a small fee to sell their products on the app. With the company’s entrance into ecommerce, TikTok would purchase their own inventory, as well as manage customer service and logistics.

As of right now, TikTok has denied the ecommerce offering being tested in the US. However, TechCrunch found that the company has filed a trademark application for the name TrendyBeat. This feature has been tested in the UK. During the test, products were sold and shipped by a company based out of Singapore, that was owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

TikTok Shop rollout has been slow due to TikTok facing threats of a nationwide ban, along with states and government devices banning the app entirely. The app has also tried launching live shopping via streaming, which has caught on in Asia. However, it hasn’t caught on as quickly in the US, according to The Verge. They started this venture in October of last year, partnering with TalkShopLive.

However, TikTok sees a huge opportunity for ecommerce. They are hoping to quadruple the size of their ecommerce operations, up to $20 billion in merchandise sales this year alone. Last year, they hit a total of $4.4 billion in gross merchandise value, Reuters shared.

In terms of the ecommerce shop, the format would live on the TikTok app in a separate tab. While it has not been confirmed when it is rolling out in the US, they reportedly have been hiring people on its website to run the feature. There is currently a job listing for a position to manage the “TikTok Shop Shopping Center,” Fast Company shared.

Regardless of how they go about the new platform, TikTok has many hurdles to overcome. Between regulatory battles and competition from Amazon and Temu, TikTok may have their work cut out for them. Analysts from GlobalData said they need to ensure they are implementing strong security measures to protect user data, including end-to-end encryption. Doing so would ensure they are complying with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and California’s Consumer Privacy Act.

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Social media news consumption down

New studies have found that news consumed on social media is on a downward slope. Why the decline? Part of it may be due to Meta threatening to block news content in states and countries where pending legislation would require the company to “pay to play.” Meta is already working on removing news from Canadian users before their recently-passed Online News Act goes into effect. Google is in the process of removing Canadian news from Google Search and other Google products. While news consumption in vertical video format (e.g., TikTok, Instagram) is starting to rise, it hasn’t caught up fast enough compared to Meta’s fall.

Social media news consumption peaked in 2020, according to a report from Reuters. Given the circumstances in the world at that time – a global pandemic, a hectic election year, and protests of all sorts, to name a few – it makes sense. The report from Reuters started to look at gateways in which people were getting their news from different forms of media. In 2018, 32% of clicks on news sites were from direct access, where 23% came from social media. That has shifted in 2023, with 30% of clicks coming directly from social media access, and 22% from direct access to news sites.

The study also looked at regions who were looking at news directly from news access. Countries that went directly to news sites include Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Thailand, the Philippines, Chile and Peru got their news directly from social media. More interestingly, Norway, Sweden and Finland were in the top five countries that have paid for online news in the last year.

Looking at a broader scope, Reuters also dove into which social networks were mainly used for news. Facebook was the most common overall, hitting a peak of 42% of users utilizing the site for news in a week in 2017. Of the 70% of US adults who utilized Facebook in 2022, 31% surveyed got their news from the site.

As previously mentioned, Facebook and Instagram will face an inevitable decline in their numbers after deciding they would block news in Canada, after the Online News Act goes into effect. The same would go for the state of California if the California Journalism Protection Act is passed and the US if the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act passes. The JCPA has advanced out of the Senate Judicial Committee onto the full Senate for consideration. Add to that Twitter’s new tweet limits, and news consumption on social media is likely to continue to drop.

LinkedIn: Subscription Jobs

Manager, Direct-to-Consumer Audience
Nextar Media Group, Inc.
Washington, D.C. – Baltimore area (Hybrid)

The Hill, a division of Nexstar Media Group, seeks an audience acquisition expert to lead growth and engagement programs for Live Events and Newsletters, Newspaper circulation. This is both a data driven, and creative cross-functional role focused on aligning and executing our strategy across our events, circulation, and newsletter teams to drive participation and engagement in core Hill products. In this role, you will conceive and execute multiple strategies to grow and retain the Hill’s audience in a diverse set of scenarios. Candidates should have a good working knowledge of user databases, email marketing and social acquisition strategies. This will be an action-oriented role. Read more.

Growth Marketing Manager (SEM Specialist)
Gopuff
Seattle, WA

The Growth Marketing team is looking for a dynamic Growth Marketing Manager to drive growth within our performance marketing programs. In this fast-paced and dynamic role, the ideal candidate will have proven hands-on expertise managing and scaling acquisition and retargeting strategies – ranging across search, display, social, and search engine optimization/app store optimization. Success in this role requires a strong bias for action, an ability to think strategically and tactically. You will have the analytical but also creative/experimental side to grow new customer acquisition and orders. Read more.

Manager of Revenue Operations
Aptitude Software
Boston, MA (Hybrid)

The chief aim of the Manager of Revenue Operations is to support and bring challenge to our revenue generating teams globally (Marketing, Alliances, Sales and Client Success) by using data led business intelligence to focus their efforts at the right targets at the right time in order to sell as efficiently and effectively as possible. The Manager of Revenue Operations will lead the review and monitoring of pipeline health and driving course correcting actions for the company. Working with each revenue team across APAC, EMEA and North America (east and west coast) they ensure visibility and a single understanding of the health of our revenue pipeline while offering insights to support growth and fast problem resolution. Read more.

Senior Acquisitions Editor
Wiley
Remote

As the Senior Acquisitions Editor, you will be joining a leading global trade book publishing team and will have the opportunity to manage one of our largest programs focused on business, success and self-improvement titles. As the Senior Acquisitions Editor, you will be responsible for the acquisition of 25 books per year and will manage an overall list to ensure profitability. This person will be expected to provide leadership within the team and to manage successful relationships with authors and other contacts, both internally and externally. Read more.

Senior Director, Subscription Revenue and Offer Management
SiriusXM
Atlanta, GA (Hybrid)

This Senior Director will be a new addition to the Subscription Revenue Management and Planning team. This person will be directly responsible for Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) and driving growth over time through program management, segmented marketing efforts, and ongoing offer management. This role will require an extraordinary amount of cross-functional partnership that will include: (1) modeling CLTV for our consumer subscription business in partnership with Finance, (2) establishing annual targets for our individual business units to drive YoY growth in CLTV, (3) tracking CLTV at the program and business-level, and (4) regularly analyzing data to develop segmented offer strategies to drive upsells, cross-sells, and where applicable, downgrades to improve retention and overall CLTV. Read more.

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