
SVG Sit-Down: Team Whistle's Noah Weissman on the Rise of Short-Form Video, Social Strategies TikTok, Meta, YouTube all lean into short-form; successful content is about more than trimming long-form By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 1:32 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
When it comes to social-media content creation and monetization, Team Whistle does it all. Its publisher business is focused on competing with the likes of Bleacher Report or Overtime. Then there is branded content, helping clients spread branding across different types of content. And Magnet is a full-service agency launched last year to focus on social content. SVG Executive Director, Editorial Ken Kerschbaumer sat down with Noah Weissman, EVP, content, Team Whistle, to discuss the latest trends in social- and digital-content creation.
Team Whistle's Noah Weissman: We have very specific format types that work for each platform. There's a sweet spot for that 30-second piece of content that works well for YouTube, Meta, and TikTok.
What are some of the trends you are seeing across your business and clients?
I think Meta, crypto, Web 3.0, and NFTs, all of that stuff is fascinating for us even with the economy shifting a bit. We are gonna keep our eye on that in terms of innovation and keep working there.
For us as a media company in the sports and entertainment world, it's all about shorts. It used to be, we [would] make 200 episodes of an eight-minute show. Now we make 200 episodes and 800 pieces of content that are 30 seconds long. And we're shifting and even trying to hire creators full-time. We're also working on a creator fund ourselves to kind of build out freelancers to make content for us.
One thing to watch is that YouTube shorts are going to start to get monetized in February, and that will be a complete game-changer. When YouTube flips the switch, it will be like a Floyd Mayweather punch to the face: Hey, TikTok creators, that's cute to get a million views, but wouldn't you rather also get $1,000? It's going to be really interesting for us, and one of the reasons we have been intentional on dialing up the shorts creation.
Making shorter content is harder than making long-form. What are some effective ways to approach creating short content that hits all the notes?
It's not a completely different thing: you need a compelling hook and need to get people to tune in and keep the energy in the right place throughout the whole video. It's not necessarily like reinventing the wheel.
There are, however, bespoke nuances. Watching TikTok on your phone, where the algorithm feeds you content, is very different from [watching] YouTube. But the same kind of general themes and science works on both platforms.
One big change is that, five years ago, you would need a team to create graphics and now TikTok has a whole suite of tools for anyone to be a creator. But you need the same ingredients that are in place for long-form documentary, like the story beats and the hooks. You just need to be very intentional on how exactly you're positioning it and use things like jump cuts.
If you are shooting something for mid- or long-form, you need to intentionally set aside 30 minutes to make some sort of short-form content for TikTok. It's not just cutting down assets.
So it's not Hey, let's shoot for 30 minutes and then clip stuff out. You need to spend time creating the concept as opposed to just seeing what happens.
Yeah. A big model for us is planning the work and then working the plan because then you're ready. In that 30-minute segment, we'll even beat out scripts and five different things that the subject can choose from. It's like a content buffet where you have a menu of five things that you might want to work on. Being flexible to work with the talent and then taking multiple at-bats at shooting the video is imperative for us.
TikTok serves the viewer the content that its algorithm suggests the viewer wants, instead of the viewer's making a choice. How does that impact the way content is created to reach the audience you want?
Each of the big platforms on social media is best in class, and it's all about packing the algorithm and understanding how to reverse-engineer it. One thing about TikTok is, they don't punish for frequent publishing so you can publish 10 times, 100 times, even a million times. They're just gonna take the content and serve it to who they think wants it.
It's a little Black Mirror in that it will start to serve you content that you want, and it's fascinating how it works because it's a little bit different from the notification style around YouTube. TikTok is really dialed in on what you like. I don't know how they're scraping the data, but they serve you the right content.
As a publisher, we are dialed in to that and taking as many at-bats as we can, posting 10-15 times a day because it's not hurting like it would on Instagram. In three months, TikTok may change the algorithm, and we'll change accordingly as that's kind of the game there.
Social-media platforms seem to have different sweet spots in terms of age. How can you easily serve out content that works for different demographic groups?
That's one of the biggest challenges that we think about: you and I might have a different consumption habit from a 13-year-old fan that wants to see something different.
We have very specific format types that work for each platform, and, to be honest with you, there's a Venn diagram with a sweet spot for that 30-second piece of content that works well for YouTube, Meta, and TikTok.
Green screens make it easier for TikTok users to create viral videos.
So let's say a player has a great night. We'll go i
More from Sports Video Group
12/05/2025
Perfect partners: Kicking off World Sevens Football's goals for its first br...
12/05/2025
Canon's Paul McAniff Shows the Latest in PTZ Auto-Tracking Tech The company showcased select solutions at the 2025 SVG Esports Production Summit in Seattle ...
12/05/2025
Fox Corporation Announces New Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service: FOX One The platform will offer all of FOX's sports, news, and entertainment programming...
12/05/2025
Live from Eurovision: The greatest show on Earth returns with a focus on enhanci...
09/05/2025
MLB Sunday Leadoff' 2025: MLB Local Media Pulls the Production, Operational ...
09/05/2025
LTN, Pro Volleyball Federation To Wrap Second Season With Championship Weekend PVF's broadcast coverage has risen 350% from its debut season By Mark J Burn...
09/05/2025
Evertz's Ray Kasprzyk on Meeting the Unique Technological Needs of Massive L...
09/05/2025
With Real Madrid-FC Barcelona, ESPN Preps for Most Ambitious LaLiga Match Covera...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
07/05/2025
Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience Balancing audio quality and noise is a constant struggle By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, M...
07/05/2025
Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Diffe...
07/05/2025
Snow Sports Offer Opportunity for Edgy and Aggressive' Audio Natural Selection Tour, Shawn White's The Snow Leagues emphasize athlete sound By Dan Da...
06/05/2025
SVG India Summit Draws 140 for a Day of Learning, Networking Global perspectives coupled with India perspectives made for informative discussions By SVG Staff ...
06/05/2025
The CW Benefits From NASCAR's New XR and Volumetric Studio at North Carolina...
06/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of...
06/05/2025
The FAST Factor: What's Happening in Sports' Latest Streaming Party Leaders from the NBA, NBC Sports, and Amagi discuss the latest trends in free ad-sup...
05/05/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Kiloview's Judy Zuo on Ensuring Reliable AV Over ...
05/05/2025
In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI ...
05/05/2025
Inside ATP Media's remote revolution in tennis broadcasting By George Bevir
Friday, May 2, 2025 - 13:50
Print This Story
From a single London hub, ATP...
02/05/2025
Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ev...
02/05/2025
Behind the Mic: MSG Networks' Joe Micheletti Set to Retire; NBA on NBC'...
02/05/2025
SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows o...
02/05/2025
Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructe...
02/05/2025
New possibilities: Creating a new production company with a difference at Moment...
02/05/2025
NBC's 25th Kentucky Derby Production Features Two Live Drones, RED Cine-Broa...
01/05/2025
Telling the story: Extensive technical set-up delivers comprehensive Special Oly...
01/05/2025
Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Corti...
01/05/2025
Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Acce...
30/04/2025
With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To B...
29/04/2025
Fascinating characters: Behind the Grand Slam Track partnership of Momentum Broa...
29/04/2025
Big package: Groundbreaking AR for live athletics comes to Grand Slam Track By ...
29/04/2025
High benchmark: Inside the inaugural Grand Slam Track production from Jamaica B...
29/04/2025
Engagement in the Live Stream: The New Age of Delivering the Game A conversation of streaming leaders dissects the feature sets that are winning in live sports ...
29/04/2025
Conveying emotion: BBC Sport on bringing the 45th London Marathon to viewers By Heather McLean
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 14:35
Print This Story
BBC Sport l...
28/04/2025
Joe Cohen Inducted into Cable Hall of Fame By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 5:19 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story H...
28/04/2025
LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics C...
28/04/2025
Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C By SVG Staff
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 10:51 am
Print This Story | Subscribe ...
28/04/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and ...
28/04/2025
A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and...
25/04/2025
Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Tec...
25/04/2025
Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases...
24/04/2025
Live From NFL Draft 2025: NFL Media Splits Sprawling Production Between Green Ba...
24/04/2025
Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertai...
24/04/2025
Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay a...
24/04/2025
Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Be...