Oh yes, I do not think X's "video first" strategy is going to pay off considering the experiences of Twitter over the course of years over the exact same policy.

Last month, X released its video-content strategy; it will focus on the growth which will be on video: the type of content users are engaging in the app the most these days due to the fact that the video is part of already 80% of their sessions.

To build on that, X has subsequently signed several other new exclusive video content deals, and what it announced today is the latest: a new deal with The Big 3, the three-on-three league for retired NBA players.
Under the new deal, X will host "live games, groundbreaking access and exclusive content" as the new home for Big 3 basketball on the web.

And it's an interesting add, in niche sports content, and given more recent ratings trends for the Big 3, it could also help drive significantly more engagement amongst X's rusted-on sports communities, who are still highly active in the app.

According to The Source, the Big 3 broadcasts outpaced Premier League Soccer, WNBA, and Premier Lacrosse League games for average viewership numbers in the United States last year. While it still won't even come anywhere close to matching the numbers of the NBA or NFL broadcast, it still presents some pretty great viewership stats as an alternative major league offering.

Big 3 has also been ably supported by newer exposure and publicity through online basketball celebrities who have gained astronomical reach on TikTok, in addition to Instagram; there's a huge prospect already of getting these into its own books.

Nowhere does that make complete logical sense except as something a probable and beneficial companion or association for X video-content plans.

But as said, the company formerly known as Twitter has tread this road before, and it did not quite work out.

In 2016, Twitter really brought its A-game on video content, especially around live sports, after signing exclusive deals with the MLB, NFL, and NBA to stream games directly to the app. The idea was that with so many people already engaging with live sports in the app, Twitter would be able to merge the two and benefit not only from the real-time engagement but also the content itself, in its first steps toward ideally becoming a sports hosting powerhouse.

But it didn't work.
Though millions of fans tuned in to view some of Twitter's live sports, the engagement was nowhere close to live TV ratings on each of those events. And since there was high premium pricing to sports content rights, it was Twitter's ultimate realization that hosting the broadcast didn't give them enough of a value-add if they were making money on engagement on either count.

Interestingly, it then began hosting more niche sports streams, seeking to become a broad-ranging hub for non-mainstream sports content. It lost interest in that too, probably because the engagement gains weren't worth the fees and related hosting costs.

Now, the platform tries the same again under the new X branding, trying to make it work a little better to push video content engagement more.

Maybe it'll do better this time with such a strong growth trend of video engagement rates inside the app as shown above and the effort the X team is going to invest into pushing vertical video viewing as a new entertainment and advertisement option.

Maybe there's an opportunity there. And while it's early days, X is also slowly building out a diverse slate of shows, mostly aimed at U.S. audiences.

Paris Hilton is set to host a yet-to-be-announced project (though the relationship between X and Hilton has seemingly soured of late)
Tucker Carlson's X program has been an early success, regularly generating millions of views in the app
Don Lemon is scheduled to launch his new "Don Lemon Show" soon
Tulsi Gabbard is working on a series of documentary-style shows about U.S. politics
Jim Rome's "The Jungle" will hit the airwaves five days a week soon
WWE recently announced a brand-new weekly show called "WWE Speed", streaming only on X
Given that the majority of X users are outside of America, it would make sense for X to be making similar pushes in other regions, as well. But again, it is early days, and it will take time to get more people viewing X as an entertainment alternative, as opposed to a complementary app.

So will it work?

Well, at least on the basis of past history, it does not seem to be a long-term strategic play for the app because the number of viewers doesn't really grow, and the creators realize that they are making much more money broadcasting their exclusive content elsewhere on other apps and platforms (note: Tucker Carlson is already building his own broadcast home base).

What was revealed over time was both the left and the right figured out that what had played out on Twitter did not have any sort of deeper strategic alignment than both of them could have maintained previously, but also represents perhaps a more recent confluence where the greater current view in treating social applications in themselves as an source for entertainment may help more possibilities this way.

Only time will tell, but it is interesting to see how the X team trots down almost the same street touting this as a new vision for the future of the app.