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Sterling Point, a YA Show I Can Get Behind

Brianna Alleva

4 min read

Sterling Point featured image showing a Muskoka lake, summer cottage, dock, and boat at golden hour for an article about advertise on streaming.

For the past couple of years, it seems like Amazon Prime has been cornering the market on young adult, teen, romance/mysteries/thrillers. 

Shows like Off Campus, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Every Year After, etc., have been massive hits for the streaming service—adaptations of popular books about young romance, mystery, and finding yourself. Audiences of young adults, as well as adults looking for some nostalgia, have found comfort and fun in these shows. 

Personally, I do enjoy shows like these from time to time, but the formula seems to be the same. A young girl travels to a different place, maybe because a relative left them a beautiful, random house or some letters detailing a mystery they need to solve. Also, add a love interest who is the complete opposite of anyone they’ve ever liked before.

Similar to early-2000s shows like Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill, but give them more ocean vibes. 

So, when I first heard of Sterling Point, I almost didn’t watch it because I could predict what it would be about and what it would be like to watch, so I waited.

Good reviews came out, of course, because it’s a tried-and-true concept, but is it any different than the rest? Or, really, does it need to be? 

Advertise on Streaming: Sterling Point

Audience Demographics for CTV Ads (Who is loving the show)

  • Teens & Gen Z (13–24) 
  • Young Millennials (25–34) 
  • Female-skewing audience 
  • Streaming-first viewers 
  • Family & relationship drama fans 
  • BookTok / pop-culture audience

Typical Advertisements  (What is currently being seen)

  • 💄 Beauty & skincare — Sephora, e.l.f., Rare Beauty, CeraVe
  • 👗 Fashion — H&M, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Aerie
  • ☕ Food & drinks — Starbucks, Dutch Bros, DoorDash, Chipotle
  • 📱 Tech & apps — Apple, Samsung, Spotify, TikTok
  • 🛍️ Retail — Target, Amazon, Walmart, Urban Outfitters
  • 🚗 Cars — Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia
  • ✈️ Travel & experiences — Airbnb, hotels, amusement parks, concerts

Suggestions for Advertisements (Who could be seen)

  • 💄 Beauty: “New town, new drama, new lip gloss.” → e.l.f., Sephora, Rare Beauty
  • 👗 Fashion: “Dress like you totally didn’t plan this outfit for your crush.” → Aerie, Abercrombie, American Eagle
  • ☕ Coffee: “Because apparently one emotional crisis requires an iced coffee.” → Starbucks, Dutch Bros
  • 🍕 Food: “Texting your friends ‘where are you?’ while ordering DoorDash.” → DoorDash, Chipotle
  • 📱 Tech: “Your situationship deserves a better phone… probably.” → Apple, Samsung
  • 🎵 Music: “Soundtrack your main-character summer.” → Spotify, Apple Music

Where to Stream: 

  • Amazon Prime

Picking the right show is only part of it. Our guide to advertising on streaming covers the rest, including frequency caps, layered targeting, and the measurement that shows what actually drove results.

Want to reach audiences like this? Advertise on streaming with smarter targeting, better measurement, and less wasted spend. Let’s talk strategy.

I am really unsure if the show needs to be any different from previous successful shows, but from an artistic standpoint, you want your show to stand out a little.

Now, I looked specifically to see if this was a book adaptation and was intrigued to find that it was not. Not only was it not, but it was created by Megan Park, a former actress on The Secret Life of an American Teenager. Arguably the most insane YA show of the 2000s but successful nonetheless. And produced by the producers of The OC and Gossip Girl!!!

The premise of Sterling Point is that a young girl and her twin brother discover they inherited their grandfather’s island in Canada. Add on that the siblings are adopted and that there’s a discovered half-sister? Who looks exactly like the adopted siblings’ adopted mom? I am in!

Sure, there is a romance and a love triangle involved; I feel like there has to be. The good news, though, is that the love story is way down on the list of priorities.

Long-lost family, mysteries, and secrets all make for way better TV than the same love triangle we have seen before and will see again.

Sterling Point manages to be fresh, new, and interesting all while sticking to the same tropes they know will gain them audiences.

Well done, I am excited to see what your (inevitable) season 2 has in store.

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