Periscope and the Upcoming Livestream Revolution

It was a little under a month ago when I first heard about an interesting app during a podcast interview between Tim Ferriss and Chris Sacca. Before listening to the podcast the name Chris Sacca had never meant anything to me. Upon reviewing who he was I became completely engrossed in what Mr. Sacca had to say. While listening to the episode I noticed for a brief moment that Mr. Sacca mentioned an app called Periscope, which I had heard of before, but didn’t quite know a lot about.

Rewind a few weeks prior; I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts (Six Pixels of Separation) when Mitch Joel mentioned an app called Meerkat. Immediately following the podcast I decided to install the app and see what the hype was about. In my short-sighted thought process, I came to the early conclusion that the app was still very infant and that if “live streaming” were to have an impact in any way I would hear about it later. Fast forward a few weeks to the podcast when I heard about Periscope I tried to give the live streaming space another chance. This time, something in my brain snapped. Upon installing and reviewing the app I was immediately flooded with possibilities of how Periscope might change the game.

Below I have put together short snippets of what industries this new player could disrupt and what it means for you.

News

The first thing I recognized as the potential area for opportunity was how the platform could disrupt how news is delivered. Let’s use our imagination for a second and put Periscope as being available during the Baltimore riots. For most people they will look to televised news or online article to give a summarized report of what is currently happening. Now let’s ponder an interesting alternative. There is a journalist who is in the midst of the ensuing riot talking to people involved and who is aware the community on Periscope is currently watching them in real time. The Periscope app allows an interesting way for people to interact with content creators, who can ask questions in the comments and watch the content creator react in real time. This lets the reporter follow whatever the audience might find to be the most relevant information (talk to the police, talk to locals, watch from afar, etc.). This introduction of a live audience who can communicate with the reporter in real time will add a dynamic to news that has never been seen before.

What does this mean for professional reporters and journalists?

This new tool for the community and journalists will be fascinating because professional journalists will have a predisposed advantage with their Twitter accounts to grow their Periscope following more rapidly. However, this could pose a new area of competition where independent reporting by individuals who are interested in the current situation or journalism as a profession to provide their perspective on current events with their own viewpoints.

Some of you might say, “Live is great, but what if I miss it?”

One of the key areas to watch as Periscope grows is the possibility that the amount of time a broadcast can be watched will be extended beyond 24 hours. This fact is important not only in its competition with Meerkat but will play a major role in the success of Periscope in the future.

Politics

The second “industry” that could be disrupted is the competitive realm of politics. There is a huge potential for politicians on Periscope’s platform. The current model of politicians in debates in front of massive crowds with pre-selected questions could be stabbed at. Let’s say for example a candidate goes on to Periscope asking questions of people without the staging. Not only will politicians have to adapt to real-time (most likely harder) questions, they will be directly from the people that they are governing or soon to be governed. Periscope allows a form of personalized interaction between the content creator and the community that television and other social platforms cannot quite match. The American election season is right around the corner and it will be interesting to see if any major candidates decide to try and take the first leap onto the platform. It will be a thought-provoking step for the candidates because whoever can successful pull it off first will not only give Periscope more legitimacy but that candidate a possible heavier influence within the community.

Sports

Sports organizations will now have new ways to connect their fans with their teams, athletes and staff. Take for example the NBA finals. Last week I was watching game 2 of the fierce matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers when I heard a chirp from my phone. Naturally I reached over and noticed that Chris Sacca recommended I watch one of the streams from a fan at the game. I was watching the game unfold on the television screen with the rest of my family when I realized something significant was happening. My eyes became glued to the screen of my phone. This is important to note because my phone, which was much smaller, held not only my attention but also my brother’s attention more than the live televised broadcast. The major factor for our draw? Myself, as well as my brother, almost felt the energy of the game more through the stream due to the fact that we were not only in the moment, but we were “In the crowd”. At the time, I suspected that this phenomenon was not only limited to myself because a huge swath of users joined the broadcast, which quickly rose the cast to #1 on the periscope leaderboard.

Hopefully, more Periscopers continue to stream high intensity, live games to give the community a peer into what it can be like to go to a high-value game such as one with the finals. This new content will definitely be a new thing to watch and it will be interesting to see how organizations and networks react.

The Rest of Us

So you might be wondering how all this new innovation might affect you. Periscope is still in its infancy and people are trying to figure out how this app is going to play out. One thing to note is that like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter this is a mobile-only platform. Mobile is the way of the future and I think it is interesting how it will contrast platforms like YouTube, which were originally built for a desktop. As mobile becomes ever more influential it will be interesting how businesses will react and use the platform. Shopify recently published and awesome blog post on how your business can be one of the early adopters of this potentially extremely successful platform.

Not only businesses will change, but also this will be an interesting new way for individuals to create value for their communities. Just like many of the channels on YouTube one possible way that Periscope can monetize its service is by introducing ads at the beginning of streams that were broadcasted earlier. This model has been proven before and there is a potential goldmine of revenue and value. Say for example you have built an audience in your field and you would like to be compensated for delivering interesting Q&As about how to grow your business. Exactly like YouTube people who view your previously recorded broadcasts will watch a short ad before they watch your content. The interesting thing here is that there is a possibility of more value in a Periscope video than say a YouTube one. Not only is the experience faster paced and raw, you also get to watch how the community is reacting to the content creator. The community adds value in their own way by contributing differing opinions as well as new and creative questions. As with YouTube, the content creator will then get a cut of the overall ad revenue generated from users who watch the video. Similar to YouTube I suspect in the future there will be content creators who are by definition “Full-Time Periscopers”.

Not only will the possibilities of new professions arise but, as time progresses Periscope will naturally ride along with the development of better smartphones, faster networks, and better mobile cameras allowing the content to become even crisper. The proposed theoretical business model of Periscope would not only allow for the outlet of raw content creation, it also further reinforces the message of personal branding.

This post is filled with possibilities for Periscope, but I will contribute my last thought. There are articles on Medium on what thought leaders think of Periscope, but whatever those opinions may be for one last time I would like to reinforce how I truly believe this platform is a game changer. Just like in 2006 when Google acquired YouTube, Twitter will strike it rich with Periscope. I’ve listed a few possibilities of where Periscope could go and what it might become, but as with everything, only time will tell.