Some big television players are resisting striking deals with Facebook for its video features despite a potentially huge audience upside. The social media giant has been trolling premium content owners, tempting them with its Suggested Videos feature and its live-streaming product Facebook Live. But the National Football League, Walt Disney Co and NBCUniversal have all said no, fearing a deal with Facebook would create confusion in the ad sales marketplace and undermine the value of the programming. Another concern is recent algorithm changes that determine how content surfaces in the News Feeds of users.
Twitter is coming out the winner in the race to lock in pro sports live streaming events. Since a $10 million deal was inked with the National Football League in March to stream 10 games, Twitter has signed a series of live-streaming deals, including with Wimbledon, CBSNews, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Pac-12 Networks. Deals with Major League Soccer and the Professional Golfers Association are in the works.
Xbox One owners can now access thousands of hours of CTV and TSN programming directly from their game console. The networks announced August 16 that the CTV GO and TSN GO apps are now available to Canadians via Xbox One. It’s the first time the apps are available on a gaming console.
Bell Media will be broadcasting the Canadian concert in support the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria on September 17 at the Bell Centre in Montréal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Bill Gates will be there and performers include Usher, Half Moon Run, Metric, Grimes, and Charlotte Cardin. The concert will be broadcast live to Bell Fibe TV subscribers, will be the first-ever livestream at iHeartRadio.ca and will be streamed on additional Bell Media Radio websites.
