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Disney and Twitter team up to stream live sports and other video

Written by MOS Editorial Team

Published on 2 May 2018

DISNEY is working with Twitter to create live sports streaming and other content for the social media service as a push to become an online destination for live video.

The company announced more than 30 new partnerships at its NewFront presentation in New York on Monday night, an annual presentation of video content for advertisers.

Bringing original shows from NBCUniversal, Disney and Viacom among others to its platform, including a version of “SportsCenter” from Disney-owned ESPN.

ESPN will roll out “SportsCenter Live,” which will produce breaking news sports coverage on Twitter. The network’s fantasy sports podcast will also be live streamed on Twitter.

The strategy has broadened the company’s appeal among users and advertisers, who are increasingly keen to market through premium video, with the format contributing more than half of ad revenue for two quarters running.

Advertisers spent $13 billion on digital video last year according to eMarketer, and by partnering with traditional media companies Twitter could very well tap into the $71 billion television advertising market.

The new deals may help Twitter compete better against larger rivals, including Facebook Inc., that are also investing heavily in live streaming and video.