Twitter users actually do want to engage with video content. That’s according to Kay Madati, Vice President and Global Head of Partnerships at the social network, who says the company is doubling down on the strategy.
“At the core of it, people actually do come to the platform and consume content and stick around,” Madati told Cheddar in an interview at SXSW.
Last week, Twitter announced an exclusive partnership with Major League Soccer, including live-streaming some matches on the platform. And just last quarter, it streamed over 1,100 live events.
“We’ll probably actually scale that number even further in Q1 of this year,” said Madati.
Twitter’s commitment to video extends to its media partnerships. Madati, who was BET’s Chief Digital Officer before assuming this role at Twitter, told Cheddar he’s seen how partnerships work for the social network from the other side of the equation and brings that experience to his new role.
Instead of disrupting the consumer’s relationship with the media organization, Twitter “is here to actually...show you that we have additive audiences on our platform who very well may not be watching you on other platforms.”
“Twitter fundamentally seeks to be an extension of our partners’ reach,” said Madati. “We care just as much about our partners’ business models...as we do [about] what that content then means on our platform.”
Rival Facebook took a major gamble on live videos a couple years ago, paying publishers to create quality content on the platform. Then last year, it started scaling back funding for those publishers and shifted its strategy.
Now, Twitter is hoping that by stepping into the void, it can get those publishers to create original content on its own platform and lure in more users.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/twitter-inks-3-year-streaming-deal-with-mls).
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
