Twitter is where people go to talk about the game — particularly NBA games — where the #NBATwitter hashtag has come to represent a highly-engaged, always-on community.. And nobody sports broadcast incorporates Twitter into its show format more than NBA on TNT — where the tweets of fans & celebrities have become a fifth analyst — driving conversation & giving viewers a voice within the show.
Twitter, Turner Sports & the NBA sought to bring together those ideals in a companion viewing experience that would not only tap into the best of those aforementioned fan groups — but create a new standard for how a mobile viewing experience could actually enhance a live television broadcast.
To transcend previous attempts at companion viewing, we knew that this had to be three things:
1. Premium — not just something happening in the background
2. Truly interactive – a back and forth between the viewers & the hosts
3. Highly entertaining – could it stand on its own?
All three boxes would be checked by launch & #NBATL streamed alongside NBA on TNT broadcasts 20 times during the season — including Opening Night, All-Star Weekend & throughout the Conference Finals.
To make #NBATwitter Live premium — something that would stand out from other companion experiences — we wanted it to contain actual live game footage that was differentiated from the television broadcast. So we landed on an iso cam experience that would leverage dedicated TNT cameras within each arena. Fans would spend the first half voting on Twitter for which player they wanted featured on the iso cam in the second half — and we would train our camera on that player for the entirety of #NBATL.
Beyond the fan vote, the interactivity we brought to the show came in the form of (a) polls — asking fans for their opinion before & during the broadcast, (b) hot takes — putting broad questions to the #NBATwitter community and spotlighting their best answers & (c) sourced tweets — finding the best, most controversial, funniest tweets out there & bringing those into the show for reaction.
Knowing we had premium content & a highly-engaged viewership — we needed the right people to hold it all together on-camera. So we settled on a mix of #NBATwitter-native hosts (Taylor Rooks, Adam Lefkoe & Alexis Morgan) coupled with a just-retired, knowledgeable NBA voice (Channing Frye) and a mix of other former players (Shaq, Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker, among others) to provide analysis, insights & hilarity — making the show highly entertaining.
Beyond the show production, we leveraged the massive Twitter followings of the NBA, NBAonTNT & TwitterSports to promote airings of #NBATL & give the show legs beyond just the live stream.
The result was the crown jewel of Twitter’s live programming arsenal — a unique companion experience that included real game footage in a manner that ONLY made sense for the platform it was distributed on. Close to 20 million people watched on Twitter as the biggest names in the NBA (LeBron, Giannis, Luka & Trae among others) got the iso cam treatment. Twitter decided to renew the contract for three years as the accolades poured in — including an Emmy nomination.