Twitter REALLY Wants You to Watch Sponsored Live Videos

The following is our weekly live video newsletter, which publishers on Mondays. Want to subscribe? Click here.Twitter’s banking its future on live video content, and to make sure users are on board, they’re providing new features around event alerts within the platform, and branded timelines around specific events. These extras provide both more value to sponsors, and some nice user benefits too, moving live video from the sidebar straight into a featured window that’s driving conversation.Live video and TV content’s finding other ways to prominence as well. You’ll now find Cheddar on Fusion, and Plex on Plex iOS devices, Android TV users, and the Nvidia Shield, with Apple TV and Android mobile devices next. DirecTV Now will also be available on Roku, in a move that should make it easier for the AT&T-owned live-streaming service to hit even more homes soon.For brands looking to experiment with video, it ends up there’s a place for both live and pre-recorded content. Brand integrations into live content is also a growing space, but one that can be navigated safely with programming like live sports.Oh, and if you want to strike it rich with someone else’s money, there’s an easier way than stealing it. One Amazon developer’s put up $50,000 of his own cash to let Twitch users play the stock market and watch the results live.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj71GuCM4ZcFor your skimming pleasure, here's the past week's top live video headlines:Twitter Adds New Features as it Experiments with Sponsored Live VideoAdweek, Lauren JohnsonCheddar Jumps to TV in Fusion DealThe Hollywood Reporter, Natalie JarveyPlex Live TV is LiveThe Verge, Thomas RickerTwitter and the BBC Partner for the First Time on Live VideoTechCrunch, Sarah PerezHow Football Site Goal Pivots its Content Strategy for OffseasonDigiday, Jessica DaviesA Tale of Two Cakes Smashes: How to Choose Between Live and Recorded VideoMarketing Land, Brent HieggelkeAn Amazon Engineer is Letting Twitch Users Play the Stock Market with $50,000 of His Own MoneyBusiness Insider, Matt WeinbergerDirecTV Now Lands on Roku DevicesCNET, David KatzmeierThe Sports Solution to Brands’ Live Video WoesMediaPost, Jeri SmithAmazon Just Canceled This Live-Streamed ShowFortune, Leena Rao