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Twitter and Bloomberg are partnering up to develop a 24-hours news channel that will stream live on Twitter, according to the Wall Street Journal. This marks Twitter’s first partnership with a media company to live stream around the clock, an important step in the company’s turnaround plan to focus more on video and live events.
The news channel is reportedly set to launch this fall, ad Bloomberg will create news content specifically tailored for Twitter, as opposed to simply streaming their own news channels on the network. Here are few highlights regarding the planned partnership:
- Bloomberg provides Twitter with a highly valuable audience. Bloomberg’s audience tends to be more highly educated and have larger disposable incomes then the general population, making the audience a premium sell to ad buyers.
- Video is Twitter’s largest revenue-generating ad format. Video will become increasingly important to add to Twitter’s content and ad offerings as it accounts for the largest share of ad revenue. The company is already aggressively adding video content, and and the platform broadcast 800 hours of video programming in Q1 2017, an increase versus 600 hours in Q4 2016.
- This isn’t the first time the the companies have worked together. Twitter tapped Bloomberg for presidential debate video coverage last year, and it makes sense that Twitter wants to partner with a media company that it has previously worked with.
- The new live channel can help Twitter maintain momentum in daily active user growth. Twitter first started reporting daily active user (DAU) growth in Q3 2016, and the metric has been steadily accelerating since last year. In Q1 2017, DAU’s grew 14% YoY, versus 3% a year earlier. This will be an important metric to track, and is the closest proxy for measuring user engagement. Adding a live news channel with continuously refreshed video content can help Twitter retain and grow DAUs.
If 2015 was the year that brands and advertisers embraced online video, then 2016 saw the medium take the next step as live streaming took off.
Live streaming video refers to broadcasts in real time to an audience over the internet. While the concept of live streaming has been around for years, mobile-first video platforms with user-generated content have just recently begun to make serious waves thanks to improved video quality, faster broadband speeds, and enhanced mobile technology.
Online video has become a key part of the strategic business model for both brands and marketers as they seek more innovative ways to capture consumer attention. Creative live streaming video initiatives and campaigns are a way for companies to cut through the digital clutter and have emerged as the medium of choice not only for person-to-person sharing, but also for business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) communication.
Brands are increasingly using live streaming to reach audiences. Its importance has grown significantly thanks to substantial investments by social platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Twitter to build and enhance their live-streaming platforms.
And advertising dollars are likely to follow. 88% of agency respondents stated that they “might” or “definitely will” invest in live stream video advertising over the next six months, according to a recent Trusted Media Brands survey.
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on live streaming video that examines the eruption of online video from the perspective of both consumers and advertisers and assesses how live streaming is emerging as the medium's next catalyst for growth.
Here are some key points from the report:
- Live streaming video will further accelerate streaming videos overall share of internet traffic. Streaming video accounts for over two-thirds of all internet traffic, and this share is expected to jump to 82% by 2020, according to Cisco’s June 2016 Visual Networking Index report.
- Live video’s value comes from its unique ability to add an authentic human element to digital communications. As a result, brands are leveraging three main streaming methods to connect with their viewers: tutorials, product launches, and exclusive and behind-the-scene footage.
- Advertisers will continue to invest heavily in online video, especially as live streaming video gains traction. Already in the US, digital video ad revenue reached $7.8 billion in 2015, up 55% from 2014, according to figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau.
- While live streaming is still in its early stages, brands are leveraging micropayments, mid-roll video ads and direct payments from social platforms, to monetize their live streaming videos.
- The success of live streaming video hinges on brands overcoming a lack of measurement standards in the space, as well as changes in social media sites' algorithms that affect what content users see.
In full, the report:
- Examines the eruption of live streaming video.
- Explores the differences between platforms that host live streaming video.
- Breaks down successful approaches from both brands and publishers.
- Discusses unique monetization opportunities live streaming presents.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of live streaming video.