Periscope, Twitter Inc.’s livestreaming service, has largely been focused on allowing users to broadcast live events wherever they are using their mobile devices. Now, Twitter is testing out an entirely new way to stream content through Periscope.

The service will allow certain users to pull video from an external source into the Periscope app. If Twitter is happy with the results of its test, this could fundamentally change the way Periscope is used and, more importantly, how it is monetized.

Twitter’s first test subject will be former tennis champion Andy Roddick, who will stream coverage of the US Open to Periscope while offering his own live commentary of the event. Roddick’s Periscope stream is being sponsored by Grey Goose Vodka and JPMorgan Chase.

“Throughout the tournament, [Roddick] will invite viewers to watch the broadcasts with him, giving his expert perspective on the matchups and gameplay and driving tune-in to the broadcast,” Mike Folgner, group project manager at Periscope, explained in a blog post. “Andy will also share his experience attending the US Open. During each broadcast, he will answer questions and engage with the audience, allowing viewers to take part in how he experiences the tournament. All of this will be live on Periscope and Twitter.”

Roddick’s streams will be posted straight to his Twitter account via Periscope, and certain videos will also be shared in tweets promoted by JP Morgan Chase and Grey Goose.

Regular Periscope users left out

At least for right now, it looks like Twitter is only offering this functionality to brands who are interested in launching a similar campaign, so it is unclear if the external video streaming feature will ever be in the hands of average Periscope users. However, if Twitter does decide to offer that feature to regular users, it would not be the first livestreaming service to do so.

Amazon’s gaming-focused livestreaming platform, Twitch, frequently allows users to “co-stream” certain events, which lets them stream video from another channel on their own. This gives users permission to stream from an official video feed while still using their own channel and chatroom.

Effectively, this allows Twitch users to offer live commentary for these events while still earning revenue and engaging their fans.  Twitch has allowed co-streaming in the past for events like the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), and it recently allowed users to co-stream the Democratic National Convention.

Of course, streaming third-party content raises a host of licensing questions, and for sporting events like the US Open, it is unsurprising that the power to livestream from official sources is limited. Still, Twitter’s experiment shows that Periscope is capable of streaming from outside sources, which could offer a major development opportunity for the company if it decides to pursue it.

Image courtesy of Twitter