In case you haven't noticed, Twitter is becoming much more than a simple way to get news updates and express yourself in 140 characters or less. The social media giant just announced that it's about to get in on live TV and sporting events in a big way. Yesterday, a slew of Twitter executives, along with special guests like NFL star A.J. Green and Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, announced their new slate of a dozen premium live streaming programs. The new content will focus on sports, entertainment and news programs such as PGA Tour Live, which will feature over 70 hours of live competition, and MorningFeed, a live morning current events and news show from BuzzFeed.
In addition to PGA Tour Live, Twitter has partnered with sports organizations for four other live athletic programs. The WNBA is going to live stream a weekly regular season game on Twitter during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons, with 20 games airing each season. The Players Tribune will serve as a way for popular athletes to connect, live, with fans. This show will have the players answering fan questions and sharing their insights on the day's topics, whether those topics are on or off the field, and also have regular interviews with athletes across many different fields. Twitter fans can also expect to see MLBAM and Stadium streaming live in the coming months.
Brand new live offerings in news and entertainment are also coming up soon on Twitter. On May 13, LiveNation will begin streaming some of their concerts with an Atlanta show from the Grammy-winning Zac Brown Band. Other concerts will feature Train, Portugal. The Man, August Alsina and Marian Hill, with additional artists to be named at a later date. Starting in September, IMG Fashion will air live runway shows from Paris, Milan, London, New York and other locales, with exclusive behind-the-scenes Fashion Week content for those tuning in on Twitter. Also coming this fall will be Circuit Breaker: The Verge's Gadget Show, a weekly program where host Nilay Patel will guide viewers through reviews and experiments with today's hottest gadgets and the most intriguing of what's coming up. Bloomberg Media will be debuting the first 24/7 breaking news network on social media with a focus on the fact that it will be global and social. Opening Bell and #WhatsHappening will also be airing soon.
Wow. That's a lot of new programming for Twitter that will be coming along in the next few months. The site is clearly hoping that these added benefits in exclusive content will turn them into a one-stop shop for social streaming, and they certainly seem to be on to something, since the company partnered with a diverse cross section of businesses in sports, news and entertainment. If you'd like to watch some of your shows on an actual TV, though, be sure to check out our summer premiere schedule and Netflix premiere guide to see what else you can catch in the coming weeks.
