NEW YORK: Twitter is expanding its lineup of live and on demand programming across entertainment, news, sports and gaming with a new round of brand partnerships.
The partnerships were announced Monday at the Digital Content NewFronts here.
“When you collaborate with the top publishers in the world, you can develop incredibly innovative ways to elevate premium content and bring new dimensions to the conversations that are already happening on Twitter,” said Twitter global VP and head of Content Partnerships Kay Madati in a statement. “Together with our partners, we developed this new slate of programming specifically for our audiences, and designed the content to fuel even more robust conversation on Twitter.”
Monday’s announcement follows Twitter’s other recent partnerships with brands such as BuzzFeed News, FOX Sports, The Ringer, CNN, Marvel, the NBA, MLB, PGA Tour and the Drone Racing League in an effort to beef up their live-video content.
Sports category announcements
Sports and Gaming
“ESPN Onsite” will be the brand extension of the sports broadcaster’s live shows, encompassing existing ESPN franchises on Twitter like “The College Football Show,” “Hoop Streams,” “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” and “MLS Countdown Live.” In addition, ESPN will add Onsite branding on Twitter around other tentpole events when they are on location.
NFL
As part of a multiyear partnership extension, the league will continue to program video highlights, breaking news and analysis, and will also include new live shows anchored around NFL tentpole events including the NFL Draft.
The Players’ Tribune
Launching talk show called “Don’t @ Me,” an interactive live broadcast featuring two athletes debating every “greatest of all time” topic under the sun, featuring notable comments from Twitter users and fan voting to determine the winner of the debates.
MLS
Soccer league’s multiyear extension of its Twitter agreement will continue to provide highlights and a slate of live matches in English (via @UnivisionSports and @MLS). In addition, MLS will post every goal on Twitter.
WarnerMedia’s Bleacher Report: House of Highlights, the hoops brand that was born on Instagram, is coming back to Twitter for season 2 of its highlights show with athletes and celebs joining Omar Raja, founder of House of Highlights.
Blizzard Entertainment
For its BlizzCon 2019 gaming convention (Nov. 1–2), Blizzard will deliver a selection of content to Twitter for the first time, including the entirety of the opening ceremony, behind-the-scenes interviews and live broadcasts, and clips and highlights of game-developer panels and esports tournaments.
