Twitter moves further into live news with global BuzzFeed breakfast show
BuzzFeed is the latest media outlet to ink a live streaming deal with Twitter, unveiling plans to host weekday morning show on the platform to be sponsored by Wendy’s, the Bank of America and Toyota.
BuzzFeed says the show – which is called AM to DM – will launch in September
The concept was originally announced at Twitter’s NewFronts event, but details have since been firmed up with BuzzFeed saying that the show – called AM to DM – will launch in September.
The format of the progamme will see BuzzFeed news reporters, editors and special guests take viewers through the day’s top stories. Discussions will be pinned around how Twitter users are reacting to the news in real-time and will be hosted by BuzzFeed books editor Isaac Fitzgerald and BuzzFeed News executive editor of culture Saeed Jones. Cindy Vanegas-Gesuale, who has previously worked at CNN, Fox and the Huffington Post, will produce the slot.
The live stream will be free and accessible globally to logged-in and logged-out users on Twitter and connected devices. Wendy’s, the Bank of America and Toyota have been revealed as initial sponsors with other deals expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
The deal with Twitter comes as the social network continues to double down on its live streaming efforts, which are becoming an increasingly important part of the business.
Twitter wants to be known as the home of live events and breaking news, and it recently launched a 24-hour news network within its walls with support from Bloomberg. The service is expected to launch in the Autumn and will consist of live news reporting from the news outlet’s bureaus around the world, as well as a curated and verified mix of video posted on Twitter by the social-media platform’s users.
In the first quarter of 2017 alone Twitter’s live video portfolio totalled 800 hours of programming, up from 600 in the last quarter of 2016. Video has been a key revenue driver for the site, with chief executive Jack Dorsey recently revealing that over a dozen new collaborations across original programming, live games and events, syndication, sports and more.
"Twitter is the beating heart of news and our newsroom has always embraced its power unabashedly, both for breaking news and for staying on top of it,” said Ben Smith, Buzzfeed editor-in-chief.
“The exciting thing about this show is that while much of television news now is basically explaining to you what happened a few hours ago on Twitter, we get to come to an informed and up-to-date audience from right inside the news cycle."