Substack, whose text-based subscription platform has reshaped the media business since launching nearly a decade ago, has launched a TV app.
The app is in beta and is thus far only available on Apple TV and Google TV.
In a blog post announcing the move, the start-up dropped several names, saying viewers would be able to watch videos from the likes of Dolly Parton, political commentators and authors George Saunders and Tina Brown.
Long-form videos and livestreams “have a natural home on the TV, where subscribers can settle in for the extended viewing that great video deserves,” the company said.
The app offers access to both free and subscription programming. A number of notable figures from TV news, including former CNN anchor and reporter Jim Acosta, have migrated to the platform. MSNBC alum Medhi Hasan, who is founder and CEO of media startup Zeteo, has praised Substack as a viable and remunerative response to the fragmentation and decline of traditional media.
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While Substack has plenty of avid fans, shortly after the blog post was published on Thursday, dozens of comments flooded in from creators and subscribers, with many decrying the expansion to TV.
“Why are you doing this, Substack?” wrote creator Roman Shapoval. “Why are you veering away from the written word?” Author Ali Isaac, who has nearly 4,000 subscribers, criticized the company for “trying to be all things to all people. … Please show your writers some love, too.”
David Adeleke, who runs a Substack focused on Africa’s media and tech scene, also weighed in. “I get trying to evolve,” he wrote, “but this just seems like another venture capital-fueled idea. Reminds of Medium all over again. Another one bites the dust, I guess.”
The post noted that the migration to TV is still at an early stage. “This initial version of the TV app is focused on reliable, high-quality viewing, and we’ll be adding more features over time,” Substack said. “We’re starting with the essentials and will keep improving it based on how people actually use it.”
With Acosta and other TV news alums doing daily shows and collectively posing a challenge to traditional networks, it will be worth watching the space to see how legacy companies respond. In the print realm, the rise of Substack (whose recent trophy deal was Bari Weiss selling The Free Press to Paramount for a reported $150 million) there have been a range of responses to the platform. Some established publishers have recently tested the waters by establishing a presence on Substack in order to connect with readers who may have migrated there.