Twitter today is providing a glimpse into what kind of TV-like platform it could be for sports fans, one of its most-loyal user bases. The social media network's livestreaming of Wimbledon is Twitter's first broadcast in high definition.
"Twitter is increasingly a place where people can find livestreaming video, and that includes exciting sporting events like Wimbledon," a spokesperson for the San Francisco tech company said via email. "This livestream is an extremely early and incomplete test experience, and we'll be making lots of improvements before we launch it in its final form."
A news feed showing tweets about the tennis matches appears to the right of the live video unit, which can be enlarged to full screen. Indeed, it just got a bit easier to watch the action and work—or act like you are working, at least.
Twitter was buzzing this morning as fan favorite Roger Federer of Switzerland tried to battle back from a two-set deficit against Croatian star Marin Cilic. Check out the experience here.
Video ads are not running during breaks in the action. Additionally, Twitter doesn't appear to be selling Promoted Tweets specifically for the Wimbledon stream while focusing on the user experience, but it seems likely that targeted ads will appear alongside sports video content on the social network in the near future.
Also, Twitter's Wimbledon coverage provides a preview for how the social platform may treat Thursday Night Football games later this fall. Twitter signed a $10 million livestreaming rights deal with the NFL a few months ago.
It's no secret that Twitter wants make its mark as a video platform—after all, the future of social media, if you believe the hype, is all about recorded and live video.
Typing will be all but dead in five years, recently predicted Nicola Mendelsohn, vp for Facebook in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
