As Twitter becomes more of a video platform, the social media giant is taking a logical next step and planning a presentation for Digital Content NewFronts.
Twitter will use its May 1 presentation to show off new original content offerings and live programming to brands and agencies for the 2017 upfront season.
"We have made major investments in video over the past few years, and being able to present the breadth, depth and quality of that content at the Newfronts is the ultimate culmination of those efforts," said Matthew Derella, vice president of global revenue and operations at Twitter, in a statement. "In 2017 and beyond, we are investing further in the video viewing experience, content development and collaborations, and video solutions for advertisers and we are excited to tell that story to the industry."
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Twitter has been busy adding content and is just coming off the previous NFL season where it livestreamed Thursday Night Football games. The platform has also played host to 2016 Presidential election coverage and the Golden Globes red carpet. Most recently the company signed streaming deal with eSports companies ESL and DreamHack.
According to Twitter, more than 600 hours of live premium video was streamed on Twitter during the fourth quarter from content partners across roughly 400 events. The company said it averaged about 50 hours of live programming per week and drew in about 33% of unique viewers outside from the U.S.
Twitter’s opportunity to pitch at NewFronts comes as the social media company takes Yahoo’s spot. This year, Yahoo, which was recently acquired by Verizon after some delays due to controversy over data leaks, will step back from NewFronts and instead go on the road to meet with buyers and agencies closer to their home turf.
“In lieu of hosting one NewFront in New York City, our team is excited to launch a series of localized events across the country to discuss the massive and transformational growth of video advertising in more intimate settings with our agency and brand partners,” wrote Yahoo Chief Revenue Officer Lisa Utzschneider in a blog post.
After last year increasing the amount of short form and live video programming across its verticals including Finance, Sports and News, Yahoo said it witnessed an 85% increase in time spent watching video on its platform. Accordingly, video inventory across Yahoo’s properties increased 29% year-over-year and time spent viewing video ads on Yahoo increased 42%.