Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Twitter seeks to dominate live video with new partnerships

Twitter is doubling down on its promise to enable users to “see what’s happening”—and it’s achieving it through live video.

On Monday, the platform announced that it’s partnering with Bloomberg to provide a 24/7 news broadcast, live-streamed entirely on Twitter.

The Wall Street Journal first broke the news, reporting:

“It is going to be focused on the most important news for an intelligent audience around the globe and it’s going to be broader in focus than our existing network,” said Bloomberg Media’s chief executive officer, Justin Smith.

The move is an expansion of its previous live-streaming offerings.

The Journal reported:

Twitter has already been streaming live programming for specific events. The company broadcast 800 hours of programming in the first quarter of 2017, up from 600 hours in the fourth quarter last year. But this would mark the first continuous video feed to be hosted on the platform.

The partnership seems a natural fit, as some of Twitter’s previous live videos have come via Bloomberg.

TechCrunch reported:

Bloomberg has already broadcast some live programming to Twitter, as part of a deal signed between the two in 2016 that introduced three shows to the social network, as well as the company’s market trading coverage. During the run-up to the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Twitter also offered live debate coverage via Bloomberg. The new arrangement is obviously expanded, but it sounds in many other regards to be a continuation of those efforts. Bloomberg’s content will be ad-supported, and the news network will have total control over its content, the WSJ says.

On Monday, Bloomberg announced the news with a tweet:

In its press release, Bloomberg said it was “setting out to reinvent the digital breaking news experience”:

The new network in-development was unveiled today at Bloomberg Media’s NewFront presentation, following a live interview with Michael R. Bloomberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Launching in Fall 2017, it will feature an extraordinary mix of user-generated breaking news video from citizens, curated and verified by Bloomberg editors, along with live video and reporting from Bloomberg journalists around the world. Combining the speed and immediacy of Twitter with the editorial rigor of Bloomberg, the network will be interactive, rich with social content and consumable on any device.

“Today’s global news consumer wants and needs more than what's currently available. In an era when most viewers are choosing immediacy over quality in breaking news, traditional media hasn’t kept up. With this new network, we are setting out to reinvent the digital breaking news experience. The powerful combination of Bloomberg’s high-quality journalism and data-backed objectivity with Twitter’s global immediacy, interactivity and reach will create the world's fastest and most credible modern news source,” said Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith.

"This is a great opportunity to extend our global news gathering capabilities to Twitter's 328 million monthly users," said Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. "Combining the journalism, data and editorial rigor of Bloomberg with the social content of Twitter will enable us to cover the world in a very new and exciting way."

[RELATED: Attend the Big 5 Social Media Boot Camp and learn to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Instagram to get huge results.]

The announcement spawned the hashtag #TheNewNews.

Additional news, fashion, sports and entertainment live streams

The platform’s deal with Bloomberg wasn’t the only partnership Twitter announced on Monday: It’s teaming up (via new, renewed or expanded partnerships) with 16 content providers to offer users a bevy of live-streaming options.

Major League Baseball, which already streams one game per week on Twitter, will now air a three-hour weekly highlights show on the platform.

It’s joined by the Women’s National Basketball Association, which will live-stream one game a week during its regular season, and the National Football League, which will launch exclusive daily content.

The PGA Tour will also add 360-degree video to its current live streams of the Players Championship, The Players’ Tribune is debuting a live show in which athletes answer fans’ questions, and Stadium network will live-stream college sports coverage 24/7.

For those interested in fashion, IMG Fashion will stream live video from Fashion Weeks in New York, London, Paris and Milan.

Dick Clark Productions will showcase live video from the red carpet at events such as the Billboard Music Awards, Propagate will host a daily entertainment show, and Live Nation will debut concerts and additional exclusive content.

Newshounds can enjoy Bloomberg’s 24/7 news coverage, along with The Verge’s “Gadget Show,” and daytime content from Cheddar’s “Opening Bell” and BuzzFeed’s MorningFeed.

In a blog post, Twitter said:

People have always come to Twitter to see and talk about what’s happening. Over the last four years, we’ve brought users video content around the things they’re already discussing on the platform, working with the world’s top TV networks, sports leagues, publishing houses & magazines, and professional news outlets. In 2016, we started building on this to bring live streaming video to Twitter to create a one-screen experience for great live content and the conversation around it. Brands align with all of this content to reach engaged audiences at scale.

Our live video and Amplify business now work hand-in-hand as we’ve grown our premium video business to more than 200 premium video publishers across the most active segments on Twitter — from sports and esports, to news, creators and entertainment. And we couldn’t be more excited about the success we’re seeing. In fact, in Q1 this year, our second quarter since launching live video on Twitter, we delivered over 800 hours of live streaming premium video content across more than 450 events, driving an audience of 45 million unique viewers. And this audience is global, mobile, and influential, with 55% of our logged-in live viewers being under the age of 25.

Live video’s lucrative future

By going full stream ahead, Twitter is hoping to both attract additional users and grab a portion of marketers’ budgets.

TechCrunch’s Josh Constine wrote:

Now Twitter says it has 200 premium live video partnerships. So basically, anything that people talk about that looks good on camera, Twitter wants streaming in its app. The content could give new or lapsed users a good reason to be on Twitter while also bringing in dollars for lucrative video ads.

CNet reported:

With the moves, Twitter is trying to gain a bigger piece of this year's estimated $13 billion in social media advertising, according to eMarketer. The platform has stiff competition though, as Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube, with their billions of followers, all want their share, too.

“Advertisers typically pay a premium for live TV since viewers are more likely to pay more attention to it,” the New York Post reported.

Twitter’s pivot to live-streaming content isn’t risk-free, however.

CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal wrote that the platform’s move could signify a future “all-out content spending war”:

Content is king, and this phrase has never been truer than in today's world. Companies that once had nothing to do with video content now are all jumping in. For example, Apple with its plan to release comedian James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke", or e-commerce giant Amazon's massive push with its Prime Video streaming service.

The danger for Twitter is that it is coming up against larger rivals with deep pockets that are not afraid to sink cash to win market share and users. It risks a content war and this could concern investors. And it has already begun.

(Image via)

from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/2prUvye
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)