Twitter Reorganizes Video Groups Under Periscope CEO Kayvon Beykpour
Kayvon Beykpour, co-founder and CEO of Twitter’s live-streaming app division Periscope, is now overseeing operational and product aspects of all of the company’s video initiatives.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Tuesday confirmed in a tweet the expanded duties for Beykpour overseeing the Twitter and Periscope video teams, a move previously reported by Recode.
However, Twitter chief operating officer Anthony Noto is still leading the company’s efforts to ink new live-streaming deals. Noto was formerly Twitter’s CFO, assuming the COO role with Adam Bain’s departure last fall.
Twitter acquired Periscope in early 2015, and last year added the ability to embed Periscope live broadcasts in third-party websites after adding them to Twitter timelines in January.
Under Noto’s direction, Twitter signed a raft of live-streaming partnerships in the past year. The biggest headline-grabber was its deal for 10 NFL “Thursday Night Football” games. Others have included pacts with BuzzFeed News for election-night coverage last November; with Bloomberg for the U.S. presidential debates and other programming; and a partnership with Dick Clark Productions to exclusively present coverage from the red-carpet arrivals of upcoming award shows.
To move the needle in terms of live-video audience, Twitter will need the equivalent of a presidential debate every day, Noto said on the company’s third-quarter 2016 earnings call. “And that’s where we’re headed,” he added, with the company’s live-streaming strategy designed to offer daily tune-in events that give users a reason to spend more time on Twitter.
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