Twitter to stream live video of US presidential debates

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

Twitter announced Wednesday that it would stream live video of all the presidential and vice presidential debates that begin Monday.

Users around the globe will be able to livestream and watch the debates from a computer, smartphone, tablet or other device. The streams will be made available through Twitter’s mobile apps or at debates.twitter.com, which has yet to go live.

The streaming is a partnership with political news outlet Bloomberg and showcases Twitter’s larger desire to directly get involved in the political realm. During the summer, the social network streamed live video of the Republican and Democratic National conventions.

“Twitter is where the 2016 presidential election is happening every single day," the company’s Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto said in a statement. “Livestreaming the debates with Bloomberg combined with the live commentary and conversation on Twitter will create a one-screen experience at the center of the action unlike any other.”

The streaming video will include political commentary from Bloomberg before, during and after the debates, with Bloomberg as exclusive distributor of the video.

"We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Twitter to include our coverage of the U.S. presidential debates during this unprecedented and remarkable U.S. election," Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith said in a statement.

"Bloomberg's non-partisan political coverage stands out from the crowd for its independence and quality. By leveraging the power of Twitter's enormous real-time platform for reaction and analysis, this partnership will provide viewers the opportunity to watch and interact with the news coming from this fall's debates as they happen live on smartphones, computers and TVs,” he said.

Investors looked benevolently on the news, with Twitter shares up 0.54 percent Wednesday, closing at $18.49. The company’s stock has slumped significantly since a year ago.

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will debate Sept. 26, Oct. 9 and Oct. 19, while vice presidential candidates, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, will square off Oct. 4.