Off Campus. TV stopped guessing.
Off Campus is the third biggest debut series in Amazon Prime's history, built on a novel nobody read until TikTok did the marketing for free.
THE GIST ON OFF CAMPUS: "TV Stopped Guessing"
How big is Off Campus?
It's the third biggest debut series in Amazon Prime's history: 36 million views in 12 days. A college hockey romance based on a 2015 novel that nobody really read until TikTok discovered it ten years later. Because TV doesn't need to guess what we want anymore.
Where did it come from?
Off Campus is based on a novel called The Deal. It was published in 2015 and did okay. For six years, nobody outside hockey romance fans had heard of it. Ask me how I know.
Then BookTok found it in 2021. It became a sensation, then a franchise, and now a TV show.
Why do streamers love BookTok?
Streamers now watch BookTok the way Wall Street watches markets. A book hits a million views on TikTok and the rights get auctioned within months. The audience is self-selecting, the marketing is done for free and the fan base is pre-built.
Off Campus was filmed in Vancouver on a tight budget with no household names. The books had millions of pre-converted fans, which eliminated the risk and guaranteed the return. BookTok-ready is now in every commissioning brief.
What do we lose?
The shows we still talk about, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Succession, were ideas that were rejected before someone took a bet. Mad Men sat in a drawer for seven years. Breaking Bad was passed on by four networks. They came from a system willing to take risks on something unproven.
That system has been outsourced to a social media trend, because pre-validated IP is cheaper than original ideas. Every adaptation is insurance against failure. The next decade of TV will be the most polished, pre-validated and algorithmically perfect content ever made. And we won't remember any of it. Do you think we will?
Do you read a book before you watch the show?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
How did Off Campus become a hit?
BookTok found the 2015 novel The Deal in 2021, which built a franchise and a fan base before a TV show existed.
Why are streamers adapting BookTok books?
The audience is self-selecting, the marketing is free and the fan base is pre-built, so adaptation is insurance against failure.
What shows were nearly rejected?
Huw says Mad Men sat in a drawer for seven years and Breaking Bad was passed on by four networks.
See you on the next one.
What should the next one be? Suggest a topic for Huw to explain
The conversation
Comments
Nothing here yet. Start the conversation: Huw reads every comment before it is published.
