Twitter partners with Cheddar

The microblogging service announced on Monday that it would be offering users live-streamed video programs on technology, media and business under efforts to broaden its audience.

The new service would be offered in partnership with the live and on-demand video news network Cheddar, the two companies said in a statement.

Twitter's chief financial officer (CFO) Anthony Noto claimed in a tweet that the company was "the fastest way to find out what's happening in the world," and that its new service was offering users more opportunity to "engage in the live conversation about it."

"Partnering with Cheddar will give people on Twitter another way to watch and discuss the day's top stories as they unfold live all on one platform," he added.

As part of the new partnership, Cheddar, which produces video content about business, will broadcast two new shows for digital audiences. The programs will include live, daily news from financial markets - an "Opening Bell" program in the morning hours and "Closing Bell" at the end of the trading day.

Cheddar's programs are broadcast daily from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and are hosted by Jon Steinberg and Kristen Scholer. The show features the breaking news of the day, markets and business coverage, interviews with CEOs and startup founders, and profiles of leading new technology, media and culture ventures.

Jon Steinberg, CEO and Founder of Cheddar, said "Financial Twitter" was going to be a "giant," and that the company was excited to become Twitter's "digital-first closing bell network."

Video push

The deal is only the latest in Twitter’s ongoing push into streaming content. Earlier this year, the company struck a deal with the National Football League to stream 10 Thursday night games this season. Also, it partnered with the National Basketball Association to create two original programs to stream online, including a weekly pregame show.

All these efforts show that Twitter is eager to keep pace with faster-growing social networks and expand beyond its core base of users and move to profitability. In its last quarterly update, Twitter said the number of monthly active users edged up to 313 million, up three percent from a year ago and only slightly more than the 310 million in the prior quarter.

Last week, reports swirled that Twitter's board met to consider ways to cut costs, ramp up revenue, and maybe even sell itself or properties such as video-snippet sharing service Vine or mobile application-building platform Fabric.

uhe/cjc (AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg)