Elon Musk Says Twitter Video App for Smart TVs Is ‘Coming’ as Platform Plans to Focus on Video Content

A Twitter video app for smart TVs is in the social media company’s plans, owner Elon Musk said in a tweet on Saturday, a move that would be in line with the company’s new plans to focus on growing video content on the platform.

In response to a tweet suggesting that a Twitter video app is needed, Musk replied “It’s coming”.

New CEO Linda Yaccarino and Musk had in an investor presentation on Thursday laid out Twitter’s plans to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships to revitalise the social media company’s business beyond digital advertising.

The investor presentation was reviewed by Reuters.

One slide of the presentation said that vertical video accounted for more than 10 percent of time spent on Twitter.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson launched a new show earlier this month on the platform called “Tucker on Twitter.” Twitter envisions that it could sell ads and sponsorships alongside videos from Carlson and other content creators, a source familiar with the matter had told Reuters.

Yaccarino, who started as CEO on June 5, told Twitter investors last week that the company was in early conversations with political and entertainment figures, payments services and news and media publishers on potential partnerships, said a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private investor call.

Yaccarino told investors that ad spending in several advertiser categories is now up at least 40 percent year-over-year, including health, consumer packaged goods and financial services, the source said.

© Thomson Reuters 2023