Twitter boss defends TV strategy

Twitter's TV strategy is on the right track and the company will continue to invest in it, the company's chief executive officer has declared in a response to a suggestion that social media does not influence television viewing.

In an earnings call, reported by Seeking Alpha, Richard Costolo declared that there was "a host and a continuing emergence of independent third-party rigorous research" that supported his view of a two-way complementary relationship between Twitter and TV.

Earlier, the head of research at NBC Universal had said that social media activity had little influence on TV ratings, but Costolo cited FOX Research figures showing that 92% of Twitter users had tuned into a show or searched for it after seeing a tweet about the show.

He also referred to data from Symphony Advanced Media that had indicated use of Twitter while watching TV decreased the likelihood of changing channels; and Nielsen had found "a causal relationship between Twitter activity and tune-in".

In addition, Costolo argued that the growing number of content providers and broadcasters participating in Twitter's Amplify program was further proof the strategy was working.

Chief financial officer Mike Gupta elaborated, explaining that all the major US broadcasters were already on the platform and international deals were being signed. "Advertisers are truly recognizing that Twitter complements and extends their ad spend on TV," he stated.

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