Dive Brief:
- Twitter, the micro-blogging application with 313 million monthly active users, will stream the TNT show “Claws” immediately after its cable debut on Sunday. The premiere will be the first time Twitter streams a basic cable drama, according to a press release.
- "Claws" is an hour-long show set in a central Florida nail salon. Niecy Nash, an Emmy-winning actress who recently starred in “Scream Queens” on Fox, leads the cast that includes Carrie Preston, Jenn Lyon, Judy Reyes and Karrueche Tran. The stars will live-tweet during the TNT airing from New Orleans, where the series is filmed, using the hashtag #ClawsTNT.
- This deal is the second time Turner Broadcasting has collaborated with Twitter. In April, the platform streamed an encore of “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’s Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
Dive Insight:
Twitter’s key advantage in mobile media is its immediacy — a user can reach a global audience instantaneously with a quick hit of text and images. By nature, video is contrary to Twitter’s agility, and the company faces challenges in growing an audience for video programming. Twitter had difficulties in monetizing its short-video service Vine, which was closed in January and transformed into a camera app. And even live events last year like NFL games drew a fraction of the number of TV viewers, reportedly underwhelming sponsors.
However, broadcasters, live sporting event organizers and other entertainment marketers are eager to get in front of younger consumers who are cutting the cord with TV, which is why Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and other digital platforms continue to sign new deals for live streaming and original video content. TNT putting "Claws" on Twitter could help it build an audience with viewers it can't reach on TV. TNT’s best move in promoting the premiere of “Claws” is using Twitter to let fans directly interact with the show’s stars during the broadcast. The show is also being advertised on Snapchat Discover.
At the same time cord cutting is growing, mobile video viewership is surging with two-thirds of smartphone users watching video on their wireless devices every day, according to a survey by AOL Advertising. The study of digital video consumption was intended to learn what viewers want to see this year. On-the-go mobile viewers generally have short attention spans, according to a key finding. About 60% of smartphone users reported watching videos that run one minute or less every day, while only 31% said they watched video that was 20 minutes or more daily.
