Publishing platform Substack continues to invest in video content with the launch of Substack Recording Studio, a built-in mechanism for creators to pre-record and publish video.
Studio, which is available only on desktop, supports not only solo videos but also conversations with up to two guests. Creators can add custom watermarks to their videos and share their screen with co-hosts. Once you’re done recording, Substack automatically creates clips and thumbnails to share.
“Until now, creating video on Substack meant piecing together a stack of separate tools: a live or recording platform, a way to create and distribute clips, and a way to design thumbnails,” the company shared in a blog post. “Substack Studio puts all your tools in one place.”
The post also noted that creators who used audio or video on Substack in the last 90 days saw their revenue grow 50% faster than those who didn’t.
Although Substack is primarily known as a newsletter platform, the company has shown a strong interest in video over the past few years, encouraging creators to explore multimedia by prioritizing updates that position it like a Patreon competitor.
Substack will allow creators to upload videos starting in 2022, but last year, after allowing creators to live stream and monetize their videos, the company launched a $20 million Creator Accelerator Fund to help creators transition from other platforms to Substack.
Like Instagram, Substack recently launched a TV app available for Apple TV and Google TV. The app allows viewers to watch video posts and live streams on their TVs and includes a TikTok-like “For You” row that provides additional recommendations.
Despite the popularity of watching short-form videos on mobile phones, people seem to be turning to their TV screens to watch long-form content. Netflix has invested heavily in bringing video podcasts to TV. On YouTube, viewers watch over 700 million hours of podcasts each month on their living room devices (e.g. TV). This is an increase from 400 million hours per month the previous year.
