SAN FRANCISCO—Confirming its belief that television will be a focal point for social media for the foreseeable future, Twitter announced today that it is acquiring SnappyTV, a developer of video editing tools for social networks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SnappyTV provides a platform for live clipping, editing, and distribution of video over social networks. The company was started by Mike Folgner and Ryan Cunningham out of the ashes of Jumpcut, a video sharing website that was sold to Yahoo in 2006. Folgner and Cunningham headed up Yahoo’s video division until 2010 when they formed SnappyTV.
The company already has a “close partnership” with Twitter. “We’ve worked together to make it easy for publishers to bring video clips to Twitter, both organically and with sponsors via Twitter Amplify and we’ve also built Twitter data directly into our editing platform,” the company said in a blog on its website. “Through this partnership, people have been able to turn to Twitter to view highlights from major events from world championships to TV and awards shows to Presidential elections, just to name a few.”
Twitter says the acquisition will help the company target video providers, including broadcasters. “One of the best ways to follow events as they unfold is through real-time videos on Twitter,” the company said on its website. “As we continue to invest in video, it’s important for us to provide tools that make it easy for TV broadcasters, businesses and event producers to share high-quality videos.”
Click here to see a demonstration of SnappyTV's technology.
