Bleacher Report's House of Highlights "signed its first YouTube-specific sponsorship deal" with EA Sports' "NBA Live 19," and the channel is now "investing in more talent-centric programming there to set it apart from the highlight clips it posts to Instagram," according to Tim Peterson of DIGIDAY. The two YouTube videos that will be produced for "NBA Live 19" will "feature influencers including streetball legend Larry 'Bone Collector' Williams and rap group YBN." The YouTube channel was House of Highlights' "first step in diversifying beyond Instagram, and it followed that up with a live talk show on Twitter that started on Oct. 25." House of Highlights GM Doug Bernstein said, "We don't want to be just an Instagram account anymore. We want to be considered a media brand." Peterson noted after "months of experimenting with longer videos on YouTube," the account now has a "weekly series with episodes regularly exceeding 40 minutes." House of Highlights is also "developing more original shows for YouTube." The main show, "Through the Wire," is a "weekly video recording of a podcast" hosted by YouTube influencer Keeny Beecham, which began airing in July. House of Highlights "plans to add to its slate of YouTube-specific programming next year," with two other shows "in development" (DIGIDAY.com, 10/31).
