*By Brittany Terrell*
Twitter's new slate of premium video content, nearly double what it offered last year, will include shows by some of the biggest TV networks, putting traditional television content on a social media platform that's disrupting long-held viewing habits.
"Obviously the big bet is television," said Kerry Flynn, a media reporter for Digiday. "And one of the biggest announcements was NBC as well as ESPN putting some of their biggest shows and channels on Twitter."
The agreements to stream TV content on Twitter may seem like a gamble for both sides, but Flynn said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar that it can be an interesting and useful way to develop new viewing habits and test what works and what doesn't in an increasingly digital and fragmented media landscape.
Viewership for live sports, for example, has steadily declined for traditional media outlets like ESPN. In recent years, major sports leagues have turned to nontraditional outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and Amazon to stream sporting events to a wider audience. The NFL, which streamed Thursday Night Football games on Twitter in 2016, will show weeknight games on Amazon for the second year in a row.
Flynn said the major sports leagues, and the TV networks that have traditionally paid big money for the broadcast rights, can afford to experiment on different platforms to see where they can find the most engaged audience outside the usual television paradigm.
Twitter has positioned itself to be a proving ground for live sports content, but what happens when ESPN's parent Disney launches its own streaming service in 2019?
"That's what's super interesting about putting Sports Center Live and Fantasy Football Live on Twitter because if Disney is going to offer something and ESPN already has their stand alone app, what are you doing?" said Flynn. "I agree that maybe longevity is brought into question, but Disney has the time and resources to experiment."
Playing content in various spaces might offer media companies more of an opportunity to diversify and increase ratings, said Flynn.
"I wouldn't say TV is dead at all," she said. "We obviously watch it. But its smart to try to boost the ratings by slowly diversifying it out."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/twitter-doubles-down-on-video).
Is Spotify a platform for content creators, or is it a media company? The streaming giant may have to find an answer sooner rather than later amid a controversy involving its most popular podcast host, Joe Rogan. Rogan has hosted guests who have made false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, and in turn, some musicians like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have removed their discographies from Spotify in protest. Rogan says he welcomes content advisories, and will balance out his guests going forward, but is it enough? And is Spotify liable in any way? John Freeman, Vice President of CFRA Research, joins Closing Bell to discuss Rogan's response to the controversy, whether Spotify should be considered a media company with responsibility for its content, and more.
The gaming industry has seen multiple large scales deals this month alone, including Microsoft's megadeal for Activision Blizzard. And, seemingly in response, rival Sony, picked up Bungie for $3.6 billion, a studio once owned by both Microsoft and Activision. The sector is reportedly on track to spend $150 billion on mergers and acquisitions just this year alone, a record-breaking total, according to investment firm Drake Star Partners. Michael Metzger, a partner at the firm specializing in technology, media, and communications, joined Cheddar to discuss the flurry of deals in the gaming space and what might be behind the hot M&A activity.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs and TRM Labs, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Facebook is ditching its crypto project and what that means for the space.
A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
Tesla reported record profits for an electric fourth quarter, but investors still have plenty of questions. The EV giant will not be releasing any new vehicles this year and provided no updates on its Cybertruck. Cheddar News was joined by Ed Butowsky, Chapwood Investments Managing Partner to go over Tesla's quarter and analyze its concerns going forward.
Julius De Kempenaer, Senior Technical Analyst at Stockcharts.com, joined Cheddar News to break down what led to Apple's massive quarter, and what the future may hold for the tech giant as competition with Microsoft ramps up.
