Twitter has entered into a streaming deal with The Walt Disney Company which will see the social media service stream live content from ESPN and other Disney-owned properties. The announcement was made yesterday via ESPN Media Zone and while it does include streaming of some live content, it also includes advertising which means uses will start to notice new ads on Twitter coming from ESPN and other networks owned by The Walt Disney Company.
Right now none of the content has been mentioned so it’s not entirely clear what Twitter will be live streaming but it appears that it will be content is specifically developed for Twitter’s platform as ESPN notes that it will be announcing the content later this week that is meant for Twitter as part of the content and licensing agreement. So far only ESPN content will be announced this week but at some point in the future The Walt Disney Company’s other properties will be announcing more content to be shown. This includes content from Freeform, Marvel, the Disney Channel, ABC, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Radio Disney, and the Disney Digital Network.
Live content from those brands and networks will be developed for Twitter under the agreement, but Disney is also set to launch its own streaming service sometime in 2019, so it’s not likely that any of the content that will be shown on this service will be making its way onto Twitter along with the other content that was created specifically for it. For Twitter, the benefits seem to be clear, as its stock reportedly gained a healthy boost after the announcement was made that it would be streaming unique content from The Walt Disney Company. For TWDC and its properties like ESPN and the others mentioned above, the benefits come in the form of specific content reaching more viewers, which might just foster some interest in other services offered from the brand.