One thing I’ve noticed a few conventions doing is offering streaming of their panels. I first noticed it with Emerald City earlier this year. They offered a free service or you could pay to see “premium” panels. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes. I wonder if larger studios like Marvel will allow their panels to be streamed. If there’s special footage, will that be shown as well or will that still be the cherry on top for those that attend? I’m looking forward to seeing how this works and what kind of hiccups happen as well. Oh technology!
Twitch Announces Exclusive Broadcasting Partnership with ReedPOP
PAX Prime, PAX East, New York Comic Con and C2E2 among initial pop culture conventions streaming live content exclusively on Twitch
SAN FRANCISCO- June 5, 2013 – Twitch, the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers, today announced it has teamed up with ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events in the world, as their exclusive streaming partner. Twitch will be the live broadcasting home for some of their largest pop culture conventions, including PAX Prime, PAX East, New York Comic Con and the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2).
“Given the growing popularity of pop culture conventions, many of them are selling out, leaving a lot of fans out in the dark and having to trawl the internet for bits and pieces of news that relate to these events,” said Emmett Shear, Twitch CEO. “With our new partnership with ReedPOP, the ability to enjoy compelling convention content from the comfort of home is now a reality.”
Twitch and ReedPOP have a long standing relationship which have involved partnerships surrounding their biggest pop culture events, such as PAX, C2E2 and New York Comic Con. This new partnership bundles all of these events and more on the horizon into a cohesive package for greater synergy between brands and offerings.
“We are all about reaching as many fans as possible and anything we can do to connect our fans with the incredible talent that comes to our shows is awesome,” notes Lance Fensterman, Global Vice President, ReedPOP. “This partnership with Twitch ensures that everyone interested in our shows will have a consistent destination for some of the best pop culture content in the world whenever they want!”
The partnership with ReedPOP is a significant milestone for Twitch as the company approaches its two-year anniversary. With a growing number of broadcasting partners and visitors-which have both more than quadrupled since its launch in June 2011-having secured a large scale exclusive with an industry leader like ReedPOP is indicative of Twitch’s preeminent role in the live streaming movement.
