Twitter has struck a deal with CBS to stream both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions later this month, the company announced Monday.
Twitter will livestream the Democratic and Republican National Conventions thanks to a new deal with CBS
Details on how it will work — and whether Twitter gets paid — are still being ironed out.
John Sommers II & Drew Angerer / Getty Images
That means Twitter has permission to broadcast the CBSN feed, the company’s 24-hour digital news streaming service, and anyone online can watch for free even if they don’t have a Twitter account. It’s unknown whether or not Twitter paid CBS for the streaming rights, but it seems likely. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on deal terms.
It’s also unclear whether or not Twitter will make money from the stream through advertising as it will with the ten NFL games it plans to stream later this fall. (CBS is a partner for those games, too.) Details for the convention streams are still being worked out, a spokesperson told Recode.
So while we don’t know much about what this deal looks like financially, Twitter’s new playbook is pretty darn clear: Obtain rights to the kind of video content people want to see and stream it live for them directly on Twitter, where they can tweet about it, or watch other people tweet about it, all in one place.
We knew this, of course, but the company seems to be moving quickly to get deals in place. Last week it streamed live Wimbledon coverage, and Twitter is also in talks with the NBA, Major League Soccer and Turner for more streaming rights. Plus there’s the NFL deal we already mentioned.
The key for all of these deals will be whether or not it actually boosts Twitter’s user base, which has flatlined over the past year. If Twitter can show people the things they usually watch on TV, but for free, it might lure new users to the platform.
One problem, though, is that you don’t actually need a Twitter account to watch what Twitter streams. So while it may bring over new visitors, getting them sign up or return after the stream is over is no guarantee.
But you have to start somewhere, and the only way to test this strategy is to have something streamworthy to begin with. Twitter is making that happen.
The Republican National Convention is set for July 18-21 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Democratic National Convention is July 25-28 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Twitter was streaming the CBS feed, instead of the CBSN feed, due to an editing error.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
