Providing a network of data and information lives at the core of Bloomberg's DNA. Our livestreams on social media served as a natural extension of these company values.
We aimed to give users the opportunity to watch live events and newsmakers in action, and in a fully unedited form. Our global social team also wanted to offer users a consistent space to consume this content that they otherwise may not be able to access.
The global social team tapped into the vast supply of TV feeds in multiple languages coming into the Bloomberg offices from around the world. Using the tool Wirecast, we pushed live videos to Periscope and Facebook, allowing people to watch these events as they were happening.
Our goal was to connect incoming feeds with the most interested segments of our audience, taking advantage of a broad social distribution network including Twitter handles @business, @markets, @economics, @brexit and Facebook pages dedicated to business, markets and politics.
Throughout the year, we made a point to livestream speeches, press conferences and other live events on a daily basis, in all regions. These live events ranged from world leaders' speeches, commencement addresses and special election coverage to Elon Musk unveiling his plans for colonizing Mars. Breaking news, such as the shooting at a congressional baseball game, played out in real time on our social channels.
Among the highlights, we partnered with Twitter to bring former FBI Director James Comey's testimony live from Capitol Hill. President Vladimir Putin even weighed in on Trump during a Bloomberg-moderated live panel in Russia.
For cord-cutters especially, this has become must-see viewing. The Comey hearing coverage, for example, reached 2.7 million people. We brought the conversation directly to platforms where the public gets its news.
Our video views across our social accounts have grown significantly year-over-year, and a big part of that was our live streaming strategy.
