Dive Brief:
- YouTube has a deal in place to live stream the upcoming presidential debates from PBS, Telemundo and the Washington Post, according to Variety.
- Previously, Facebook announced a deal with ABC News to live stream not only the debates, but also offer coverage all day from the various sites of the debates, and Twitter partnered with Bloomberg to live stream the debates.
- NBC has partnered with AltspaceVR to live stream the debates in virtual reality, also reported by Variety.
Dive Insight:
Live streaming video is one of the more interesting social media developments with the format becoming a major piece for platforms from Snapchat to Facebook Live. The deals around the presidential debates, all coming within days of each other, find Facebook, Twitter and now YouTube all partnering with different media companies to live stream the same content. In a way, the debates offer something of a stress test to find out which platform people prefer.
While marketers will be eager to get in front of digital viewers during the debates, the fact that there will be several different options — and not all of them offering advertising — complicates things for advertisers. The industry is likely to be closely watching how each platforms performs as marketers prepare their advertising programs for 2017.
Similar to Facebook’s expanded coverage, YouTube live streams around debate content will include creators like the Young Turks and Complex News reporting from the debate venues.
While YouTube has long been a leader in digital video, the quick growth of live streaming on Facebook and Twitter is giving the platform a run for its money.
