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Twitch takes on YouTube with new Video Producer tools
- Twitch is debuting a new set of tools for content creators called Video Producer.
- Streamers can now debut new, pre-made videos to their audiences at set times.
- Streamers can also set up reruns so new subscribers can see older content.
Twitch announced in a blog post today that it’s debuting new tools for content creators. The new tools, called Video Producer, let creators make landing pages for new videos and rerun their previous content.
The biggest change is that streamers can now upload pre-made videos and debut them at a specific time. The premiers must have a landing page, where creators can add a countdown timer to increase the anticipation.
Twitch is also allowing content creators to set reruns. As the name suggestions, these are videos that have already aired and can be played again. The thought here is that just because it aired once, not everyone got to see it. Subscriber counts can vary wildly as streamers become more popular, so it’s beneficial to them to replay their content several times.
Many content creators stream games on Twitch, then take clips from their stream and upload it to YouTube. It seems like Twitch would rather keep those videos and the viewers on the site rather than letting them go somewhere else to view the content. These moves appear to do just that. On YouTube, videos are uploaded and go live immediately or at a set time, but Twitch wants to make videos more like a movie premiere. The video’s landing page will feature countdown timers and special popcorn emojis, and alerts will tell users when to tune in.
These moves make a ton of sense for both Twitch and its streamers. The streamers have already built a following on the site. It doesn’t make a ton of sense to force users to go to another site for more of your content. For Twitch, it’s all about keeping viewers coming back. The more often that viewers come back for content, the more loyal they become. Additionally, it increases the chance that people may purchase a paid subscription to a streamer or donate bits to them, and Twitch gets a part of both of those transactions.
The new features also make sense on a larger scale. Amazon owns Twitch, and has been publicly feuding with Google, who owns YouTube. Recent trademark registrations indicate that Amazon may start its own YouTube-like streaming site, but maybe it doesn’t have to with changes like these.