From what it seems, Twitter has noticeably started to figure out the direction it intends to take as a platform under the leadership of CEO Jack Dorsey. And much like Facebook, it is gunning for a video-first strategy but with a twist of its own – something we’ve come to expect from the micr0-blogging platform.
Speaking at length about the company’s live video strategy with BuzzFeed News, Twitter COO and CFO Anthony Noto stated they’re planning to broadcast video content across its platform non-stop, without any pause. He means to say that their platform has always been on the forefront in terms of trending or fresh content and they are now looking to bank on this opportunity. But, with a video-centric approach, where news, sports, and entertainment content will be streamed 24 hours day, seven days a week.
Talking about the same, Anthony Noto said,
We will definitely have 24/7 video content on Twitter. Our goal is to be a dependable place so that when you want to see what’s happening, you think of going to Twitter.
Twitter started out by live streaming NFL games, through an exclusive and new interface, earlier in September last year. It has since signed multiple such partnerships, garnered more than 45 million viewers and 800+ hours of live streaming video in the process. It has now also released its Periscope Producer API for those interested in directly streaming to the platform. However, Twitter lost out on the chance to stream even more NFL games to Amazon, who bagged the rights by paying five times more than the micro-blogging platform.
Thus, Noto saying that the company is planning to adopt a CNBC-like programming route where it would constantly stream content isn’t exactly surprising. He did not specifically mention when Twitter plans to begin its video programming round the clock. There is currently also no word on how the end result might look but the company is willing to experiment. It will probably be closer to dip-in, dip-out programming that’s prevalent on news and sports channels, restricted currently to the U.S.
Further, Noto goes on to mention,
We think that is a great way to have the programming carried along with you during your day. Focus in on it when you hear something that’s of interest, but then maybe not be 100% focused on it when it’s not of interest. I did that myself during the debates.
He further adds that the Live video strategy has helped them roll out 15 to 30-second unskippable video ads, which TV advertisers are ready to big checks instantly. It has also driven the conversation volume, user base and the Twitter community as a whole. What’s in store for the platform next is still unknown as Noto denied going deeper into detail.
But, we’ll come to know soon as Twitter has decided to attend its first ever NewFronts event this coming week, where it’ll showcase its vision for programming on the platform and why advertisers should be flocking with massive checks to capture the growing and maturing audience. Through its latest strategy, it hopes on landing some big-time advertisers who will buy their ad spots upfront. It will definitely come as a significant boost for the platform, which had been struggling to grow its user base and revenues for the past year.
