X has announced an exclusive deal with the WWE that will feature new video programming as part of their growing slate of shows.
Under the terms of the announced deal, the WWE is set to air a new, weekly show on X, which is said to be defined by timed matches between popular WWE stars.

That could get a lot of WWE fans onto the app depending on which stars are included in that program. X has also said that in 2023, conversation around wrestling increased 11% year-over-year.

I mean, it's hard to put a number on those results exactly as X appears to have tweaked some of its metrics but WWE is certainly popular in the app, with 13.7 million users following the main WWE account.

As noted, the new program will be part of X's growing slate of original content as the company moves to make itself a "video first platform".

So far, X has inked exclusive video content deals with:

Paris Hilton, on a yet-to-be-announced project
Tucker Carlson, whose interviews regularly generate millions of views in the app
Don Lemon, who will soon begin airing his new "Don Lemon Show
There's Tulsi Gabbard, developing a series of documentary-style programs focused on U.S. politics; Jim Rome, bringing his popular "The Jungle" show to the app, airing five times a week, and more. X is also working to incentivize top online creators to post to the app through better ad revenue share deals, which it's currently testing with YouTube star MrBeast, who's re-posted some of his clips on X.

Since MrBeast makes his money mostly on YouTube, I wouldn't bank on him going all-in on X, but anything he puts in the app adds to its programming slate, and X will hope that he can make enough ad revenue in the app to then attract other creators.

Heard that skirmishing over podcast content has led controversial host Joe Rogan to look to re-share his shows on X, potentially even video of the show itself. More importantly, it might be that Elon Musk will be a guest of UFC CEO Dana White at this weekend's "UFC Apex" in Las Vegas.

So while it's not necessarily a killer slate of alternative video content as yet, X is building out its roster over time, while it's also experimenting with a new, dedicated video tab in the app that could help to further highlight its programming.
Of course, Twitter before Elon also tried this same approach, with mixed results.

As far back as 2016, Twitter was pushing strongly on TV-like content, committing exclusively to the MLB, NFL, and NBA in broadcasting games directly in app. That was part of a bigger play connecting the rise in live event tweeting to the source material. The research Twitter had done indicated it was the number one place for online engagement in terms of live sports events and TV programs, and its view had been that if it could combine the two, it would then be able to build an entertainment powerhouse, capitalizing on both the content and the conversation in one stream.

It didn't work.

Whatever the reason, people didn't really enjoy the idea of watching the scroll of tweets along with the show, which would have something to do with the fact that only a relatively small number of people actually use Twitter, therefore limiting the content to a smaller audience by bringing it in on app reduced overall engagement.

Things, however, are different nowadays.
Social platforms are now larger sources of entertainment in their own right, rather than just the related discussion, and perhaps, given that more people are consuming more content direct in social apps, the time is now right for X to make this new push, which could provide significantly bigger advertising opportunities.

Signing controversial content also serves to further Elon's "free speech" agenda in the app, and it does seem like X will be looking to play a bigger role in political discussion within the upcoming election cycle through its video programming.

I guess, though, the question then will be what happens after, especially if advertisers continue to stay away from the app.

Elong believes whatever he says, and whatever others share in the app, amounts to nothing and next to nothing as long as they bring people in since while businesses appreciate to act based on principles on some matters, all they ultimately care about is their bottom line. And if X can get a billion, they are going to advertise in the app, regardless of whether they like the app or not, for the reach of the audience is too large to disregard if X can win over that level of attention.

Still doesn't feel like X could do that, but the X team is going to hope this new wave of exclusive content push becomes the thing that makes it happen, luring in enough viewers across so many topics areas to just become a draw too large for ad partners to resist.

Again, past experience doesn't bode well for this strategy, and X's decision to focus on certain broadcasters and content could limit its potential either way.

But that's the hope, and adding an exclusive WWE program into the mix is certainly a positive step.