If there’s one thing that TikTok does well, it’s taking cultural moments and making them bigger. A powerful tool for extending the lifespan of TV moments, the platform has become a hub for reality TV fans to debrief, react in real-time and make meme-worthy content about the latest shows. Leveraging the reality TV-to-TikTok pipeline presents a major opportunity to build stronger fan communities and amplify key moments, with #realitytv totaling over 649.4K posts on TikTok to date. So how can you, as a broadcaster, use TikTok to boost views for reality television? TikTok as a Second-Screen Experience: The way people watch reality TV has evolved… a lot. Audiences no longer passively watch the drama unfold - they react, share and create content in real-time. TikTok has become the go-to platform for audiences to engage with shows, whether it’s recording their reactions to suprising moments or cliffhangers, or revealing their unpopular opinions about the cast. Turn TV Moments into Cultural Phenomena TikTok wouldn’t be TikTok without co-creation. A huge 69% of users have co-created content relating to a show or movie, showing how much potential there is to turn great TV into viral trends2. A family favorite in the world of reality competition shows, Dancing with the Stars has had a huge influx of fan-created content, with audiences recreating dances and ballroom moves that look convincingly easy when the professionals do it! Varying from epic fails to impressive reenactments, it’s another way people love to have fun with their shows through TikTok. Cast-created content is not to be slept on, either. Ilona Maher, an American rugby player, used TikTok to showcase her journey with dance and femininity, drawing attention back to Dancing With The Stars, while narrating her experience as a woman in sport. Fans felt inspired by Maher’s journey and what it meant for definitions of femininity - creating a stronger emotional connection and loyalty to the program. Community-Driven Engagement and Fan Theories Another interesting aspect of TikTok is ‘deep dive’ fan theory videos, where creators analyze characters, scenes, and plotlines within a TV series. Audiences collaborate to develop these theories, using the 'Stitch’ feature to elaborate on another creator’s video. This culture encourages fans to want more from their favorite shows, by watching a spin-off, or rewatching episodes. 32% of users aged 18+ say that fan theories have motivated them to subscribe to a streaming service3. It’s not just reality competition and dating shows that perform well on TikTok, but live TV has seen engagement sparking from TikTok as well. Saturday Night Live consistently creates hype around upcoming guest line-ups and performances using the platform. Sharing skit clips and exclusive content keeps the show trending week after week. Take this BTS TikTok post featuring Tate McRae’s appearance on the show for example: The relationship between TikTok and the television industry is one that is growing rapidly, and with its unique ability to bring long-term value to reality, competition, and live TV shows, it’s only getting stronger. Embracing TikTok as a key audience engagement tool will help you create content that strengthens the community and grows your viewership more than ever. 1. TikTok Marketing Science Global Creators Drive Commerce Study 2022 conducted by Material 2. TikTok 2024 Internal Data,(Source: GoodQues TikTok Entertainment Study 2021 via Suzy. Base: TikTok Users 18+ (n=1002)) 3. TikTok Marketing Science US Custom Streaming Subscribers Survey via AYTM, June 2024. [Q12] (n=500) Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions