TikTok's next big bet is OTT as it launches new Fire TV app

TikTok's Fire TV app will feature videos from popular creators, and interviews with celebrities.

TikTok ventures into TV. (Bloomberg)

TikTok plans to bring its viral videos to TVs with an app for Amazon's Fire TV. The TikTok app called ‘More for TikTok' for Fire TV will launch first in the US, Business Insider reported.

The app will feature playlists and popular TikTok videos which will be curated by TikTok itself. The company will also feature interviews with TikTok's popular creators. TikTok's decision to venture into another device comes from the current situation where it's witnessing “a lot of co-viewing” in families so a bigger device like a TV would be ideal. TikTok's Fire TV app will not be interactive like its mobile app. The app will be strictly for only viewing purposes. There won't be any actions for users to log in to their accounts so they won't be able to upload videos either. This restriction may be pulled later on.

For its TV app, TikTok wants to experiment with longer videos. TikTok lets users upload videos with a maximum duration of 60-seconds. TikTok plans to do this through its interviews with celebrities such as Grimes under its ‘In the Studio' section. Another section will be called ‘This Is TikTok' featuring popular TikTok videos. This will be similar to the TikTok video compilations we see on YouTube.

The new TikTok app is available to Fire TV users in the US. It will be free without any ads. Since this is more of an experiment especially for a mobile-friendly app like TikTok, it will most likely take time to expand the same to other markets. TikTok's Fire TV app also comes at a time when it's facing a ban in the US. TikTok has also been given an ultimatum by the Trump government to close an acquisition by September 15.