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I’m a media reporter and a diehard Swiftie. I don’t cover Taylor, but here’s how I wish someone would
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Oct. 13, 2016, 2:04 p.m.
Audience & Social
LINK: www.wsj.com  ➚   |   Posted by: Shan Wang   |   October 13, 2016

BuzzFeed’s politics team is producing a live show to be streamed only on Twitter on election night, November 28 (just kidding, November 8). BuzzFeed is one of many news organizations being paid by Facebook to help fulfill the platform’s live video dreams, but Twitter is the “heart of this giant American conversation,” “the beating heart of the election,” and the place where “[e]veryone obsessed with politics will be,” on election night, Ben Smith, BuzzFeed editor-in-chief, repeated to a number of media outlets on Thursday.

BuzzFeed’s election night special will feature BuzzFeed News reporters discussing returns and will include ads (Twitter and BuzzFeed will share revenue from advertising), The Wall Street Journal reports:

Unlike the Facebook Live payment arrangement, Twitter and BuzzFeed will share in advertising revenue for the event, according to a Twitter spokesperson. Twitter will take the lead in selling mid-roll video ads in the live stream, and advertisers can also sponsor BuzzFeed-produced news clips across Twitter. No advertisers are signed up yet, since the event has just been announced, the spokesperson said….

Planning for the Twitter event, which starts at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8, is in its early stages. But BuzzFeed has brought on TV veteran Bruce Perlmutter, who has worked on live events such as the Royal Wedding and the 2012 Summer Olympics, as executive producer.

For its November 8 live Twitter broadcast, BuzzFeed is partnering with Decision Desk HQ, a volunteer-powered election results-tracking operation founded by conservative blogger (and former truck dispatcher) Brandon Finnigan.

Amid a storm of sales rumors, Twitter has been trying to bulk up its livestreaming offerings in an effort to position itself as a destination for the most immediate conversations around live events. It’s been streaming the presidential debates, NFL games, Wimbledon, the Democratic and Republican conventions, and even golf (some events have attracted a decent viewership).

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