Television is now a format, not a medium
I had a conversation with the head of the Telly Awards (gotta love the Tribeca Lounge!) and we started talking about “What is Television today?” Like how do we even define it? Is it the venue or the type of programming? I mean even the Oscars, a television broadcast, is moving to Youtube in 2029. What the hell is happening?
I think I have believed this for a while, but this festival really solidified for me that the lines between television, webseries, and "content" is blurring to the point where Television is now a format, not a medium.
A Medium implies the mode of communication with an audience, it encompasses location, methodology, and means of delivery (eg. video and sound waves beamed through space to the television in your living room). Often when we think of artistic mediums, we categorize things generally – visual art, film, television, experimental video, etc – but Video is our medium. Television is the format.
Television as a format implies a narrative structure that, yes, requires an episodic delivery method. But in 2026, you can access Television-Format-Content anywhere. And I mean anywhere.
It’s no longer about it being on linear television, broadcast to millions of homes at primetime. It can be on a streamer, Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok, Substack, the little screens in the back of cabs, the LinkNYC Charging stations around the city, the video screen in the lobby of a WeWork. If it has video capability, it can become television, what matters is the narrative structure and episodic format.
We did get into a little debate on whether Social-first series are in a category all their own. She argued there is something different about digital native content, which I tend to agree with, but I think traditional television and film have always evolved with technology, the business and it’s distribution platform, so I am not sure being digital native matters as much anymore.
- The Act-Break structure for TV was derived from mandatory commercial breaks.
- The increase in serialized shows when we gained the ability to rewatch and catch up on episodes we missed (tysm vhs and dvr)
- The increase AGAIN in serialization, and move to more heightened cliff-hangers when the “Watch next” button was introduced and binge-watching became the norm.
- Movies got longer as technology allowed us to splice film rolls together for longer movies, and in switch to digital since we weren’t so limited by film roll length (not sure this was a net positive, I hate 3 hour movies)
But when we started making movies direct-to-video, or for television, we didn’t stop calling them movies altogether. They are structurally different than a film you may see in a cinema, but they’re just simply TV movies.
I think it’s the same for television as a narrative format. It’s still TV if someone is creating it to match that format with slight nuances, it’s just distributed in another venue – be that web, social, or some other platform. We may dress it up and call it a webseries, but the underlying format is more or less the same. The difference is length and viewing venue. If anything, the key differentiator would be short form vs long form content, not digital vs linear. Anyway...
The problem with the shifting of this definition is that we get a little existential very fast. If TV can be anywhere and video podcasts are a thing now, then are video podcasts just talk shows? Are all youtubers TV creators? I think the answer is no, but I’d need a much longer newsletter to dig into my thoughts on that. No matter what label we put on it, the arena of social-first series, microdramas and non-traditionally distributed television is growing fast.
Who’s already winning
Youtube recently unveiled their new slate of shows with top creators like Kareem Rahma, Quen Blackwell, Trevor Noah, and Julian Shapiro-Barnum, and microdramas from Alex Cooper & Unwell. Production companies dedicated to social-first series are popping up, such as Mad Realities, the team behind Keep the Meter Running and Bodega Cats (a personal fave).
Deloitte predicts short-form "micro-dramas" will drive $7.8 billion in revenue in the coming years. 57% of social users say they want original content series from brands in 2026, and the platforms are showing up to make that easier: Substack launched a TV App, Instagram is doing the same and soon the next big 3 networks may be Youtube, Instagram and Spotify, for all I know.
And as usual in our business, fortune favors the early-adoptors and trailblazers. Some internet creators are making a concerted effort to validate the Youtube and Social space a viable television distribution channel. Notably, Michelle Khare, of Challenge Accepted, set out to create a television show on a free platform, Youtube. For several years, she has independently produced the daredevil docu-series entirely on Youtube with funding by sponsors, adsense and community funding. She only produces a few episodes a year, but still, it's episodic. During the panel she said, "According to Nielsen, YouTube is the number one streaming service. And therefore, it is a television show."
With this in mind, Michelle and her team appealed to the Television Academy and underwent an independent review to allow Challenge Accepted to be eligible for Emmy Awards. The petition was successful, and now we can vote for her indie series for the Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special category.
During a panel with Kareem Rahma, he shared a similar sentiment when discussing his series that is getting an upgraded version on Youtube, Keep the Meter Running, "It's a television show on YouTube. It's not a YouTube show." Like Michelle said, Youtube is currently the #1 Streaming platform in the US and 44% of total YouTube watch time in the US happens on users' televisions so why shouldn't Youtube be considered TV with the rest of 'em?
Youtube’s new slate of late night, microdramas, and unscripted content will likely be a test balloon to create more scripted series in the future, which yes… they’ve done before but they pretend it didn’t happen (rip Youtube Red, you will always be famous).
Similarly, in the short-form space, we have been here before. Everyone is talking about social series and micrdramas like Quibi didn’t exist and lonelygirl15 didn’t invent the modern webseries. Nevertheless, users have grown so tired of short 7 to 60 second videos we have warped the industry into giving us a string of 60 second videos instead of just, you know, a normal-length episode or movie, but whatever.
Why this matters for you
This influx in microdramas worldwide, and more social-first episodic content is territory that doesn't squarely fit in the skillsets of commercial or editorial writers. It's not a one-off, it has a throughline of narrative or consistent format for the entire series, and requires a skillset better suited for social creators and television writers. So now, we have a new window of opportunity for writers to get their foot in the door, with a lower bar to entry than a staff job or movie deal.
Right now, the big brands are investing in talent to write and create the shows and films, like in the case of Nia DaCosta for Verizon, Rachel Sennott for Venmo and Marc Jacobs or On Cloud's Shape of Dreams campaign by Spike Jones or relying on a semi-improved format and writers from the commercial space or editorial to create shows like InStyle's The Intern.
But smaller brands, businesses and creators who want to cut through the noise in this format, but don’t have the skills to write a short film or episodic content will start collaborating with emerging writers like you to help them accomplish this. (As evidenced by the runaway hit, Brooklyn Coffee Shop!)
This could be your way in, if you're open to it.
How do I know this? Because I’ve been approached multiple times this month by creators looking to hire a writer for a social series and some looking for referrals for my students (that’s you - more on that soon).
Smaller/nonexistent marketing teams with smaller budgets will start turning to hungry emerging writers with a deep knowledge of social-first content and episodic storytelling. Now is the time to start studying up on these formats and networking your lil booty off to pitch yourself for these opportunities. (tg I teach episodic storytelling in TV Camp! You can hop on the waitlist for the next cohort now!)
Right now branded content is in a grey area (is it a commercial or not?), but most scripted social series, Youtube shows / webseries and microdramas are covered by the WGA MBA agreement at a certain budget level, which means it’s often cheaper and logistically easier for companies to hire non-union writers for gigs like this, especially if they are wading into these waters for the first time – this means it’s YOUR time to shine!
Circling back to my initial point, that the lines are blurring on what is considered television, that means what is considered a legitimate credit on your resume will expand. A social series or microdrama (if it’s good!) could hold the same weight as a short film, indie feature or tv show in the future.
I've been there
Part of my lore that you may not know is that my first paid writing job was for a social series on Facebook Watch (rip). It was produced by NewForm, which was part of the first huge wave of creator-focused, social-first production companies and studios, along with Awesomness TV, Stage 13 and more. It was called Text Stories, and they were short comedy videos in the form of group text threads. Not Emmy-worthy, but helped pay my bills when I was an assistant and having “Facebook” in my bio was nothing to sneeze at.
My second paid job was a live show and podcast for Crooked Media. This was just before they launched their TV division, but Crooked already had specials on HBO, and was growing rapidly, so they had name recognition. These two credits helped prove that I could write in someone else’s voice, work on hard deadlines, pitch, and so many other skills that are needed to work professionally in a writer’s room.
Had I ignored these opportunities just because they were outside of the traditional bubble of film and tv, I don’t know that I would be where I am today.
So what does this mean for you?
- If you’re looking for a way to start adding credits to your resume, it may be worthwhile not to hyperfocus on traditional film and television opportunities. You may want to expand your networking efforts to creatives in the brand and content marketing space, and adding “Social Series,” “Branded Series,” “Social Video Series Writer” or “Youtube Scriptwriter” to your Linkedin Jobs alerts.
- If you’re curious about this developing area, start watching these shows and taking note of the common structures you see (just like you would a tv show or movie!). Notice commonalities in story structure, pacing, budgets, locations, cast size, etc so if you have the opportunity to pitch on one of these shows you have a frame of reference for scale for your stories. The Marketing Brew newsletter and podcast does a great job of covering branded social series and other intersections between marketing, film, tv and social media. And here are some series to check out:
⚡ Roomies by Bilt
⚡The Intern & The Boss by InStyle
⚡ Ramp's Kevin Malone CFO Campaign
⚡The Scene by Marc Jacobs x Rachel Sennott
⚡ Bittarverse - Alexis Bittar
⚡ The Go Getters - Ibis Hotels
⚡ Between Friends - Venmo x Rachel Sennott x Jordan Firstman
- And of course, you know I love to upskill, so if you currently feel like a newb when it comes to social media or short form content, you may want to do a little intro! Some creators who talk about socials and the algorithms that I tend to like are:
⚡ Jade Beason
⚡ Modern Millie
⚡ Hubspot
⚡ Grace Andrews
- And you can create a social show or microdrama independently, without a company to produce or a brand sponsoring. Just a good ole webseries! For some recent examples, you can check out:
⚡The Comic Shop by Cheyenne Ewulu
⚡ VHS Dates
⚡Screen Time - Issa Rae x Pine Drama
If you're interested in writing for social series or microdramas, reply to this email to let me know! I want to have a list of referrals when I get inbound requests for hiring 😞
I have 2 more Tribeca takeaways left! See you in the next issue :)
-Alicia
