Social media can be a friend, not a foe, to established video networks and their advertisers, according to a report highlighting synergies between video networks and social media by Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. Social media for live streaming is very much en vogue.
Established video players increasingly are attracted to the engagement that social media platforms – particularly live streaming –can stimulate, notes the report, which points to deals that have been made to promote content on platforms such as Twitter, Google’s YouTube TV, Snapchat, and Periscope.
The wise approach, according to Kagan’s analysis, is to consider the relationship to be a good thing for the old guard and the new players. The report quotes Brian Bacon, an analyst at Kagan: “The increased availability of video content on social media platforms should not be seen as a threat to traditional media.”
The media establishment is responding. For instance, CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post are making on-demand news clips available to Snapchat Discover, the report notes. Facebook’s Watch video service has the support of Vox, Buzzfeed, Discovery Communications, A&E Networks and ABC. And Twitter has deals with 35 content providers in Asia Pacific. The company is looking to offer more e-sports, entertainment, news and political coverage, the author notes.
The deals are not surprising since, as the author puts it, cooperation is a “win-win” for traditional media (and advertisers) and social media. For example, the author notes that Twitter streamed about 450 events during the first quarter and was rewarded with 45 million unique viewers, an increase of 30%.
The secret may be that networks and advertisers simply are going where the viewers are. The report cites data from Magna Global indicating that digital ad sales last year — including display, video, search and social — grew by 17%. Linear TV advertising grew only 4% during this period, the report says.
Image courtesy of flickr user Kirill Kniazev.
