Substack has launched a TV app for Apple TV and Google TV, expanding video distribution options for newsletter creators on its platform.
According to the company’s announcement, the app allows subscribers to watch video posts and livestreams from creators they follow on television screens. Both free and paid subscribers can access content based on their current subscription level.
The initial version focuses on video playback and includes a “For You” row highlighting videos from user subscriptions and recommendations. Subscribers can browse dedicated pages for individual publications to explore additional video content.
Creators publishing videos on Substack don’t need to take additional steps, as their videos automatically appear in the TV app for signed-in subscribers.
“Video doesn’t have to live in any one place. It needs to be wherever someone chooses to consume it. The Substack TV app does just that for me and my work,” said news creator Chris Cillizza, author of “So What.”
Substack plans to add audio posts, read-alouds, search functionality, and previews of paid content for free subscribers in future updates. The company also intends to enable in-app upgrades to paid subscriptions and sections for different shows from individual publications.
Industry Context
The launch follows Meta’s recent introduction of an Instagram Reels app for connected TVs on Amazon Fire TV devices.
“One of the advantages of Substack is that you can publish in many formats with the same direct subscription relationship. People watch podcasts, videos, and livestreams, but they also listen to audio versions of their favorite written content,” Substack co-founder and CEO Chris Best told The Hollywood Reporter.
Best said the company identified creator interest in technology for video posts and livestreams. “We’ve also seen writers succeeding with audio versions of posts, and having live conversations around the ideas they write about,” he said.
Substack raised $100 million in funding in July 2025. The platform competes with other newsletter providers in the creator economy.
“Both free and paid subscribers can sign in to the TV app. Creators decide what they share with everyone and what they reserve for paying subscribers. That choice is core to Substack’s model,” Best said.
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
