Twitter announced Thursday it’s acquired SnappyTV, a cloud-based video platform that allows for the easy editing and sharing of clips from live TV broadcasts.
The social media company said San Francisco-based SnappyTV already works with a number of media outlets to bring video content to its site, with some of it coming via Twitter’s Amplify ad program, which launched last year. Broadcasters and event producers currently using SnappyTV’s service include, for example, ABC News, Fox Sports and the US Open.
The deal is expected to help Twitter strengthen these existing partnerships and build new ones as it invests in and develops SnappyTV’s product.
Commenting on the acquisition on the company’s blog, Twitter’s Baljeet Singh promised it would “help partners and brands bring the best videos into the conversation, when it matters most.”
“Together, we’ve worked with the biggest content partners in the world to inject the best video content into Twitter’s real-time conversation, straight from the TV to your mobile device,” Singh wrote. “Twitter users have watched goals, slam-dunks, amazing shots, and touchdowns – as well as red-carpet moments, award show performances, news clips and funny moments – right from a Tweet in their timeline.”
He added, “Our goal is to help publishers quickly share great moments from events so people can experience those moments as they happen.”
Twitter beat Wall Street forecasts when in April it reported revenue of $250 million for Q1. Even better, the leap from $114 million a year earlier marked a 119 percent increase year-on-year. However, with pressure mounting in the wake of disappointing data on user-base growth, the company is continuing to look at ways of further developing relationships with brands and organizations, with its purchase of SnappyTV designed to boost user engagement with the social media site and ultimately bring in more TV-related ad revenue.
