Is Twitter A TV Network?

Vergecast Live on Twitter

Is Twitter a TV network? Are they another Netflix, an OTT¹? I think they are.

I’m watching Vergecast Live from CES in Las Vegas. It’s a slickly produced show with well done video packages and pacing. There’s money and some experience behind this show.

There are problems as well. The program played for a while with a “be right back” still over it. The player mysteriously crashed a few minutes later. I can’t remember the last time CNN crashed.

They’re running big time commercials from T-Mobile, Ford and Qualcomm. It’s an in-demand audience. There’s money to be made.

Look who’s been cut out of the revenue stream: Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, Frontier and others. You don’t need a cable package to watch Vergecast Live, just an Internet connection.

This is why your Internet provider (probably your cable provider) is doing everything possible to discourage you from watching OTT programs. It’s why there are now data caps from most of the major providers. HD video need loads of bandwidth when sent to each screen individually. The ISPs want you to believe that’s a big deal.

The only problem is bandwidth has gotten nothing but cheaper with time. And somehow, and I don’t know how this is possible, at the moment capacity seems endless!

I remember when long distance phone calls were expensive. They were planned events. Now they’re virtually free.

That will happen with Internet access too. New methods will emerge such as satellite, balloon, drone and even 5G cell networks. When a market gets too lucrative disrupters enter. Blood in the water.

Wait for it.

¹ – In broadcasting, over-the-top content (OTT) is the audio, video, and other media content delivered over the Internet without the involvement of a multiple-system operator (MSO) in the control or distribution of the content.

3 thoughts on “Is Twitter A TV Network?”

  1. Thanks Geoff for bring this to light – from old days of rabbit ears TV to basic cable to now this is what science is all about – like it or not – fair competition – like now anybody can stream live and anchor TV shows from anywhere in USA or world. What would Walter Cronkite say about this new status of mass communications today?

  2. Funny, because when I called Frontier to drop my TV package (way, way too expensive) the rep there didn’t even try to offer me a better deal. So, here I am, two months later, with a TV antenna on the roof and Playstation Vue for the cable channels I used to pay through the nose for, and it’s just $35 a month, no contract. I read that so far over 20,000,000 households have dumped cable providers for OTT television. And so far, if you believe the Frontier CEO, they have no data caps.

  3. The days of cheap bandwidth are about to come to a screeching halt. Our new president’s choice to head the FCC has long been an opponent of net neutrality as are the cable companies, telecom companies and ISPs. I suspect net neutrality won’t last the year and we’ll see rate increases and surcharges aplenty.

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