TORONTO – TikTok has big plans to reach beyond mobile around the world, including in Canada.
The company hired Dan Page (above) in April as its head of global business development, new screens. Since then, Page has been working “to ensure that TikTok is distributed beyond mobile, with the goal to be on every other screen around the world, while also overseeing all Distribution in Canada,” he said in an email to Cartt.ca.
Page, who noted it is interesting the company often gets compared to social networks when it is not one, described TikTok as “an immersive, entertaining platform that enables everyone to connect with diverse communities and express their creativity using a wide array of in-app creative tools.”
Before moving to TikTok, Page worked at Telus for a decade. The companies may be very different, but his work at both still shares a connection. “While I have departed from the telco industry, I haven’t moved too far as I’ll be focusing on helping to integrate TikTok onto mobile and TV networks,” he said.
“With the adoption of platforms like streaming devices and TVs, this means more ways for TikTok to connect with our users and this is how we can offer them more dynamic experiences,” he said. “We feel bringing our content to the TV to some extent is a natural next step.”
TikTok has already been experimenting around the world with bringing the platform “to other screens including in-flight entertainment, video on demand services and TV applications,” Page said.
The app is currently available in the air, through partnerships with Air Asia and Viasat and American Airlines and is available beyond mobile in Spain, where users can access TikTok Extra on Telefonica’s Movistar+ Living Apps, which are TV apps, and in the European Union through Amazon Fire TV.
Page did not confirm when Canadians can expect to be able to access TikTok on their own TVs but he did say they can expect in the future “to see and experience TikTok in a multitude of formats and on a vast array of devices.”
