TikTok is becoming the default discovery engine for entertainment. Around 80 percent of TikTok users say the app influences their streaming choices, and in 2025 an average of 6.5 million daily posts discussed film and television content on the platform. Fifteen of the top twenty European box office films went viral on TikTok before release. The platform now has a commercial proposition that matches that cultural footprint.
What launched
TikTok announced two new AI powered ad formats during the Berlinale International Film Festival, both aimed at entertainment marketers across Europe. Streaming Ads use AI to deliver personalised content based on individual engagement patterns, available as either a four title video carousel or a multi title media card. New Title Launch targets users based on signals like genre preferences and price sensitivity, built to convert trending moments into ticket sales, subscriptions, or event attendance.
Why this matters
The interesting shift here is not the AI layer itself. Every platform is wrapping targeting in AI branding. The shift is what TikTok is now willing to expose as a targeting input. Genre preferences, price sensitivity, and viewing behaviour are the exact signals entertainment brands have historically had to buy through third party data providers. Bringing them into Ads Manager changes the economics.
For streaming services, the pitch is direct. If TikTok users are making viewing decisions on the platform, reaching them there with personalised title recommendations reduces the gap between discovery and subscription. Ticketed events benefit from a similar mechanic. When a film is trending in cultural conversation, converting that attention into booked seats was previously a slow, indirect process. These formats compress the path.
What advertisers should do next
Entertainment brands already running TikTok campaigns should treat these formats as a test layer rather than a replacement. Existing In Feed and Spark Ads still carry the broad awareness load. The new formats work best when you have a clear conversion event, whether that is a subscription signup, a ticket purchase, or a signup for early access.
Brands outside entertainment should pay attention too. TikTok rarely launches category specific formats without eventually rolling the underlying targeting capability into broader ad products. The signals powering these entertainment ads will likely show up in other verticals soon.
For advertisers building TikTok into their media mix, Scepter Digital's TikTok specialists help structure testing frameworks that work with the platform's native logic. For more on how TikTok fits alongside other underused channels, explore our approach to the full advertising stack.
This insight is based on content originally published on the Microsoft Advertising Blog, rewritten with added context and perspective by Scepter Digital.
