Twitter unveiled 12 new premium content deals at first-ever digital content NewFronts presentation

Twitter unveiled a robust slate of new premium live streaming content deals across sports, news and entertainment this evening at its first-ever Digital Content NewFronts presentation.

A dozen new collaborations were announced, bringing hundreds of hours of new exclusive live original programming, live games and events, live syndications, extensions of existing live deals and new always-on live streaming premium content to the platform.

Twitter executives including CEO Jack Dorsey, COO Anthony Noto, CMO Leslie Berland and Global VP of Client Solutions Matthew Derella presented the live content offerings to brand and agency partners. They were joined by guests including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, ESPN analyst Jay Williams, TV producer Ben Silverman, NBA star Karl Anthony Towns, NFL star A.J. Green and Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, among others.

“We could not be prouder of the success we have achieved so quickly since launching live streaming premium content. Last quarter, we streamed over 800 hours of live premium content from leading brands across sports, esports, news, and entertainment,” said Noto. “Adding these 12 new live deals tonight is a testament to the success of our only-on-Twitter experience, combining high quality streaming video with our only-on-Twitter conversation.”

“The rest of this month, you’re going to see a lot of presentations. You’re not going to see anyone that can give you the audience mindset, the most premium content, and do both at massive and accelerating scale like Twitter can,” said Derella.

New original and live programming announced on stage included the following:

Sports

WNBA: Starting later this month, for the first time the WNBA will live stream a weekly regular-season game on Twitter (20 total per season) during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.

MLBAM: In addition to weekly live MLB games that stream on Twitter this season, a new 3-hour once weekly MLB program will live stream exclusively on Twitter.

Stadium: A new, original, fully programmed, 24/7 linear experience will stream live on Twitter in the coming months. This network will integrate exclusive live collegiate sporting events, extensive highlights, classic games, and daily live studio programming.

The Players’ Tribune: #Verified, a modern forum for athletes to connect directly with fans, will be a live show, exclusively on Twitter, featuring athletes answering fan questions and sharing their insight, reactions and timely takes on important topics on and off the field.

PGA Tour: The PGA Tour will live stream 360 video of the iconic island 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass during The Players Championship (from May 11-14) on Periscope and Twitter.

News

Bloomberg Media: Bloomberg will debut the first-ever 24/7 breaking news network that will be global, live, social and exclusively on Twitter

The Verge: Coming this fall, Circuit Breaker: The Verge’s Gadget Show is a weekly live program that will review and experiment with the hottest gadgets everyone wants right now.

BuzzFeed News: MorningFeed, a brand new morning news and current events show broadcast live on Twitter by BuzzFeed.

Cheddar: Cheddar’s hour-long Opening Bell will stream live daily at 9am ET from the New York Stock Exchange, beginning today. This expands on Cheddar’s successful Closing Bell show at 3pm ET, which has aired on Twitter since last October.

Entertainment

Live Nation: Live Nation will deliver select Live Nation concerts and original content exclusively on Twitter.

IMG Fashion: IMG Fashion will bring its premium designer and brand relationships to a live content program consisting of exclusive runway shows and behind-the-scenes Fashion Week content for Twitter users, live, from New York, Milan, Paris, London and beyond in September 2017.

Propagate: #WhatsHappening is a new live daily, entertainment-driven, primetime show on everything in the world that embraces Twitter’s unique conversation.