Musk announces X's transition to a video-first platform

"This year, X, formerly known as Twitter, will become a 'video-first platform.'"

Social media company X is launching an application allowing users to watch TV videos, similar to YouTube and Netflix. After being acquired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2022, X, which hasn't done much since then, is entering the living room TV war with this move.

According to a Fortune report on Friday, X is poised to launch a TV app this week. “It's the same kind of app that YouTube has for TV,” an X representative told Fortune. The company is trying to catch up with YouTube.” In response to the report, Musk simply said “Coming Soon” on X when questioned about it.

YouTube's venture into the living room has been a resounding success thus far. According to IT analyst firm The Information, nearly half (45%) of U.S. YouTube users watched YouTube videos on their TVs last year. In 2020, only 20% of users watched YouTube on their TVs. Still, the pandemic has led to a significant increase in people who have adopted the habit of watching videos on screens larger than their smartphones.

It's unclear how X will fare in the face of competition with the likes of YouTube and Netflix. In July last year, Twitter announced that it would change its name to X and become a ‘super app’ with financial services, but the move hasn't achieved much success. X has been aggressively expanding in the video space, recently partnering with conservative former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson to create video content.

Launched in 2006 as ‘Twitter,’ X was a text-based social media platform with a 280-character limit per post. It gained global popularity and played a pivotal role in the early social media era. However, after losing ground to competitors such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, Musk acquired it in October 2022.

However, X's valuation has not rebounded since then, plunging 71.5 percent from the time of the acquisition in December. In particular, Musk's anti-Semitic and far-right rhetoric has led the company to face significant ‘owner’s risk,’ with large advertisers pulling out in droves.


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