The power of influencers

It’s no secret that traditional TV is struggling to get audiences to tune in.

In the UK, for example, the average age of a BBC viewer is now over 60, with the valuable 16-34-year-old audience more likely to be online than watching TV.

In an effort to lure audiences back, it’s little wonder then that online stars and influencers are increasingly being booked by traditional media.

YouTuber Joe Sugg, who has over 8m subscribers, danced his way to the semi-final of the most recent edition of Strictly Come Dancing.

BBC Radio 5 hosted commentary of last year’s boxing match between YouTube stars Logal Paul and KSI, who have 19m and 20m subscribers respectively.

UKTV channel Dave, meanwhile, is airing the second series of Yianni: Supercar Customiser, presented by Instagram star Yianni Charalambous who comes with over 1m followers.

But it’s not just traditional media that’s making use of influencers. So too are OTT and digital platforms.

Global sports streamer DAZN recently partnered with Brazil’s biggest football influencers, Desimpedidos. A collective of football fanatics, Desimpedidos have more than 15m social media followers, and have been presenting DAZN’s coverage of Serie A and Ligue 1 matches in Brazil throughout February.

Global UHD broadcaster Insight TV, meanwhile, recently commissioned a new car show starring Alex Hirschi, aka Supercar Blondie, with over 500k subscribers on YouTube, 2.2m followers on Instagram and over one billion views on Facebook.

“For us, working with influencers is a way to connect with millennials,” says Jenna Vaartimo, marketing director at Insight TV. “Peer recommendations and influencer…