Twitter's debut NFL effort on Thursday night gives it a "solid foundation to build on," as the picture quality for the Jets-Bills stream "was excellent," according Richard Deitsch of SI.com. Watching the game on a Mac laptop and iPhone was "similar to HD television -- very sharp, great audio," and iPad users "really seemed to have a great experience." There were "some buffering issues at times but it's always tough to know whether that's on your end or an issue with Twitter." The Twitter broadcast was "about a play or two (maybe 40-45 seconds) behind the television coverage." Meanwhile, users "need to have an option to customize what tweets they want to see." Deitsch: "That should be an ASAP fix for Twitter's engineers" (SI.com, 9/16). RE/CODE's Kurt Wagner notes he was "surprised at how easy it was to jump into the game on a mobile phone." Wagner noted "one major positive for Twitter" was he did not "come across a single nasty tweet during the whole game." Wagner: "The feed was curated by both humans and an algorithm, so nasty tweets should have been weeded out, but Twitter can be a brutal place." Twitter did a "nice job of keeping it clean, especially after a less-than-stellar experience during its Wimbledon stream earlier this year." Wagner added the game "didn't feel very Twitter-y." Wagner: "I may as well have been watching on the CBS app or the NFL Network app" (RECODE.net, 9/16).
THE PEOPLE REJOICE: CNN MONEY's Ahiza Garcia wrote under the header, "NFL Thursday Night Football Livestream On Twitter Is A Hit." Twitter's game stream was "free of major glitches, and the quality seems to rival HD even on bigger screens." It was also "very easy to find the stream -- it's the first item in the Moments section of the Twitter app." Most users "praised the service" (MONEY.CNN.com, 9/15). But in N.Y., Benjamin Hoffman wrote the experience "could have benefited from an accompanying #spoilers hashtag, as the instantaneous nature of Twitter ran headfirst into the speed-related flaws still inherent in streaming video." The most "stark example of the biggest flaw" was the "flood of posts coming in" about Jets CB Darrelle Revis. The tweets "started several minutes before" the stream showed Bills WR Marquise Goodwin "streaking down the field" past Revis for an 84-yard touchdown. The video quality was "high, but as soon as the stream went live, fans noted how delayed the action was compared with the broadcast on CBS." A common complaint among people "using the chat function was that there was no option to view their personal Twitter news feed alongside the video." The open questions are "whether the NFL can close the gap in timing, and whether fans, receiving a high-quality video for free, will care" (NYTIMES.com, 9/15). CNBC’s Wilfred Frost said “some viewers did complain about some buffering and a delay while others seemed to enjoy the experience" ("Worldwide Exchange," CNBC, 9/16).
WELL RECEIVED: Reaction within Twitter was largely positive, though some users echoed complaints about the timeline and feed delay. ESPN's Darren Rovell: "Whether it generates real $ is what the market wants to hear, but tonight's #tnf stream already added much needed positivity for Twitter. ... Twitter needs to be looked at as more media than social, tonight was a huge step." Sydney Morning Herald's Matt Bungard: "Twitter has changed the game. This has to push other streaming services to be better. A free service on their 1st night was A++ quality." Wall Street Journal's Paul Vigna: "Statement never before heard in offices around the nation, being heard this morning: 'You see that game last night on Twitter?'" SportTechie's Mark Burns: "Quality is great. Dig the timeline but I also want mine. 15-20 sec delay from TV." Sports PR consultant Zack Smith: "A lot of space under the #TNF game stream. Can we get some stats, fun storytelling around players, live tweets from booth/sideline reporter?" (TWITTER.com, 9/16).
MORE POSITIVE RESPONSES: Washington Univ. Dir of Sports Business Program Patrick Rishe said the NFL “benefits in the sense that obviously Twitter is global so they’re reaching markets all over the world” and the NFL has “lost a younger audience and with Twitter 72 percent of their users are between the ages of 18-34" ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 9/16). ESPN's Rovell also said “people were so surprised by the quality of the stream” from Twitter “that it looked like TV” ("GMA," ABC, 9/16). CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla said, “I wish I could watch all sports like this.” CNBC’s Cramer said the Twitter feed was a “good presentation” and was a “very big hit" (“Squawk on the Street,” CNBC, 9/16). CNBC’s Jon Fortt said the feed “looked great within the app last night.” RBC Capital Markets Internet Analyst Mark Mahaney said “it was an interesting, immersive experience." Mahaney: "It added to the entertainment value" ("Squawk Alley," CNBC, 9/16).
EXPANDING HORIZONS: Twitter has struck a syndication partnership with Time Inc., in which the social media company’s live streams of “TNF” will be available on SI.com and Time.com. Other Time Inc. sports properties such as The MMQB and FanSided will ultimately be folded into the deal this season. The distribution on the Time Inc. properties will include the live Twitter video and a timeline of related tweets during games, and represents a further broadening of the live stream availability (Fisher).
