With viewers quickly moving away from traditional cable and television, it is up to the entertainment industry to adapt. Netflix and Hulu are helping to fill the void, and traditional television networks have begun making all of their shows available online the day after they air.
The biggest issue with these solutions is that they require some form of payment. What if you want to watch something, don’t want to spend any extra money, and don’t have regular cable? Well, Twitter took the first step in making that a reality on Thursday night when it livestreamed the game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills. Twitter and the NFL joined together in a $10 million, 10-game deal that will make it possible to watch Thursday Night Football games without having to pay a single dime. And the first night actually worked pretty well (it is important to note that Twitter has not announced viewership numbers yet, so we don’t know how many people actually tuned in).
For me, the opportunity to watch football on the go is incredibly important. I was out last night when the game started, but quickly pulled up the game on my phone so I wouldn’t miss it. The stream was high quality and only a few seconds behind the live game on TV, which is really the only complaint I have been able to find.
#TNF The quality is better than my HD TV, but it being delayed stinks. I’ll stick to the TV, I reckon. Was nice to try, though.
— ✭ DCBlueStar ✭ (@DCBlueStar) September 16, 2016
Twitter, with all of its legitimate faults, is still a growing platform with an enormous reach. For the NFL, partnering with Twitter to share their game was an incredibly brilliant move. Millions of people could simply open up the Twitter app on their phone and watch the game (and, more importantly for the NFL, view advertisements). The ability to see the game in excellent quality combined with the steady stream of tweets was a neat experience as well, and it was one that regular television shows should replicate. This is a win-win-win for the NFL, Twitter, and football fans, and it could set a precedent going forward.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams even went as far as to call it the “wave of the future” and thinks we will eventually see all NFL games streamed on Twitter.
Took 5-seconds watching #TNF on https://t.co/1GoqB4zlZp to know this is the wave of the future and that all NFL games will be on here soon.
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) September 16, 2016
It is a proven scientific fact that Game of Thrones Twitter and The Walking Dead Twitter are absolutely insufferable. Okay, so maybe it isn’t science, but there is nothing worse than not being able to watch the latest episode live and subsequently being forced off of social media to avoid spoilers. If networks partnered with Twitter the way the NFL did—and streamed their shows on Twitter simultaneous to their airing on TV—you could watch the latest episode wherever you are and not feel left out as Twitter spends hours complaining about the latest death of a character that you know you need to feign interest about in order to appear cool.
The NFL and Twitter have shown a path for the future of entertainment. The question is, will the rest of the industry take that cue, or will they hold on to the bygone era of cable until they have squeezed out every last dime from their customers?