Twitter Will Become Remote Control for Comcast Pay-TV Users A new Twitter feature, set to launch in November, may be a game changer for internet TV and online advertising.
By Brian Patrick Eha •
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This isn't your grandfather's remote control. Next month, Comcast pay-TV subscribers will be able to use Twitter to watch and record programs aired by Comcast-owned NBC Universal, such as The Voice and Sunday Night Football.
It works like this: Tweets about certain TV shows will include a "See It" action button that will be visible in the expanded tweet, just like images and videos. Users of Comcast Xfinity will be able to click on the button to watch the show live on their desktop or mobile device or record it for later viewing with Xfinity's DVR function.
Twitter announced the partnership Wednesday in a post on its company blog. "By partnering with Comcast, we'll be able to make it easier than ever to turn on the show everyone is talking about and jump into the conversation," Jana Messerschmidt, Twitter's vice president of platform and business development, said in the post.
For months now, Twitter has looked to the TV industry for advertising revenue opportunities, highlighting the fact that its platform features a lot of chatter about popular shows. Telecom companies, meanwhile, want to make sure they are getting bang for their buck.
"In a typical week, #thevoice generates more than 350,000,000 Twitter impressions," Sam Schwartz, Comcast's head of business development, said in conversation with a Comcast blogger. "What's missing is how to seamlessly move from that conversation to consumption. And that's where See It comes in."
According to a Schwartz, Twitter and NBC have also launched a partnership to sell ads against "near real-time video highlights" of shows and events.
Messerschmidt did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur.com's request for comment.
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