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Report: Twitter in talks to have live streaming sports app available for Apple TV
Microblogging-come-messaging platform Twitter, Inc. continues plans to reinvent itself as a sport live streaming service, with a report Sunday claiming it is in talks with Apple, Inc. to have the new service included on Apple TV.
According to The New York Times, the talks between the two companies, which would allow millions of Apple TV users to watch games on Twitter, remain ongoing.
The tvOS Twitter app would presumably offer more than simply a live stream of a given game, but would incorporate Twitter content as well with users being able to interact with, or indeed contribute their own thoughts using the remote app on their iPhone.
While the Times report focuses specifically on Twitter’s deal with the National Football League (NFL) to live stream online Thursday Night Football, a version of Twitter that supports live streaming on the Apple TV would also deliver far more content than a weekly game of football, with the company having obtained streaming rights from Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Basketball Association as well; in addition Twitter is also believed to be in talks to obtain streaming rights from Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Professional Golfers Association (PGA).
Competition
Twitter’s push into live streaming comes at a time live online video services are growing increasingly popular as cord cutting, the process of people canceling their cable television subscriptions, is increasing.
Everyone from Facebook and Snapchat, through to Hulu and the Google-owned YouTube has shown interest in providing access to live streaming services. Twitter seems particularly endeared towards sports content, ostensibly due to a belief that Twitter’s short-form microblogging is better suited to live sporting events than say a syndicated television show.
The Times also rightly points out that much of this interest comes down to money; as fewer people watch traditional television, advertisers are continuing to move their ad spends into online video in a trend that shows no sign of stopping over the next ten years, let alone over the short term.
Twitter’s move into streaming is still a huge risk for the company, particularly given that it remains unprofitable, but with stagnating growth Chief Executive Officer Dick Costello is rolling the dice and hoping that live sports are what Twitter needs to return to a path of growth and profitability.
Image credit: cristiano_betta/Flickr/CC by 2.0
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