Substack adds a live video component to its newsletter service. In it announcement post, the company positioned the feature as real-time audience engagement for creators. Initially, the feature will only be available to people with Substack’s Bestsellers badges, but the company says it plans to roll it out to all users in the coming months.
Creators can start live videos on Substack. As with written content on the platform, the creator can specify whether the live video’s audience is everyone, all subscribers, or paid subscribers. Any channel subscribers will be notified when a live video starts. There is also an option to collaborate by inviting other Substack members to go live. For now, only iOS users can issue invitations; Android users can accept the invite for now and will have access to the full feature “soon”. After the live broadcast is over, the video will be saved in post drafts for use in a future newsletter. There is also a cropping tool for light video editing tasks.
Substack has been to push Bringing video content creators from TikTok to its platform doesn’t seem like an obvious competitor to the company’s existing offerings or an obvious fit for the community it’s cultivated. Emails are asynchronous communication and can be read at your convenience, unlike live videos that need to be watched now. The option to include posts in newsletters is helpful, but making live viewing a regular part of their Substack routine can be a big ask for current users. In short: there’s no guarantee that the new feature will work well or that the majority of newsletter creators and readers will be interested in engaging with video content.
