Twitter teams up with Bloomberg on 24/7 streaming news; stock jumps
Twitter Inc. announced a partnership Monday with Bloomberg Media to broadcast around-the-clock streaming video news, further positioning the social media platform as a destination for video.
The new channel will include live news reports from Bloomberg bureaus around the world and video curated by Twitter users, the companies said in a joint statement at an event Bloomberg held for advertisers.
“In an era when most viewers are choosing immediacy over quality in breaking news, traditional media hasn’t kept up,” said Justin B. Smith, chief executive of Bloomberg Media. “With this new network, we are setting out to reinvent the digital breaking news experience.”
The tie-up aims to build on the already 800 hours of video Twitter streamed the first quarter of this year, up from 600 hours the previous quarter. It also comes on the heels of news last month that Twitter would not carry Thursday Night Football for a second season after Amazon reportedly paid the National Football League $50 million for the rights — five times what Twitter paid last year.
“Twitter is looking for differentiation, which comes from exclusive content,” said Michael Pachter, a research analyst with Wedbush Securities. “They didn’t have that with the NFL, but they have it with Bloomberg.”
Pachter said the deal is low hanging fruit for both companies considering the cost of the content will likely be low.
“It’s a low-risk bet by both companies that they’ll get some media exposure and perhaps develop something that their respective audiences like and appreciate,” he said.
For Bloomberg — which has already been streaming some video on Twitter, including a presidential debate — the deal provides another platform on which it can build new audiences. That’s important at a time when cord-cutting continues to accelerate. Amazon’s foray into football is seen as something of a trial balloon that could disrupt the traditional relationship between sports leagues and broadcasters.
Investors responded positively to news of the new deal between Bloomberg and Twitter.
Twitters’ stock finished trading Monday on Wall Street up $1.06, or 6.4%, at $17.54 a share. Two years ago, the stock traded for $38 a share.
The San Francisco-based company last week reported its first drop in quarterly revenue since it went public in 2013, but said video accounted for the largest portion of its ad revenue in the quarter ended March 31.
Twitter also said its number of daily active users in the quarter jumped 14% from a year earlier and that monthly active users rose 6%.
Twitter is looking for ways to grow its video services and garner more video advertising dollars. It sees live news as a natural focus. In an internal document obtained by Bloomberg last year, Twitter co-founder and Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said he wanted his company to be “the people’s news network.”
About 29% of consumers say they get most of their news from social media, according to Parks Associates.
Twitter: @PeltzLATimes
Twitter: @dhpierson
UPDATES:
3:00 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation
This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m.
Inside the business of entertainment
The Wide Shot brings you news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
