Twitter partners with Women's NBA, BuzzFeed & Bloomberg in growing live broadcast drive
Twitter is mounting a major content push in a continuing drive to court greater numbers of live viewers after ramping up its broadcast offer with the screening of WNBA women’s basketball matches through to 2019, a 24-hour rolling Bloomberg News channel and a gadget show produced by technology website The Verge.
In addition Twitter has also secured the rights to a 360-degree video of the 17th hole at the PGA’s Players Championship golf tournament; a weekly Major League Baseball highlights package and a tie-up with music promoter Live National Entertainment to stream selected concerts – commencing with a performance by Zac Brown Band later this month.
Moreover BuzzFeed News will oversee a curated morning bulletin of trending tweets and vide news start-up Cheddar will report live on the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange each morning.
Twitter chief operating officer Anthony Noto remarked: "Adding these 12 new live deals tonight is a testament to the success of our only-on-Twitter experience, combining high quality streaming video with our only-on-Twitter conversation."
The diverse array of new content is geared toward acquiring a greater slice of the online advertising pie by first courting live streaming users and the attendant advertising revenue which flows after them.
News of the fresh batch of streaming exclusives pleased investors with shares rising 6.4 per cent in its wake, closing at $17.54 when news of the deal broke.