The other side of that new slate of video programming is headlined by exclusive shows from popular TV identities Don Lemon, Tulsi Gabbard, and Jim Rome. But in a new move, the platform is also exploring a new monetization avenue for that content-which will push users to subscribe to X Premium in order to view certain episodes and updates.

That's the case with a new find in the back-end code of the application: a new prompt that forces viewers to sign-up if they want to continue watching after a certain point in playback.
X is deploying new prompts that seem to be triggered after a user watches for a certain amount of time, forcing them to sign-up for Premium if they want to keep watching.

There's still very limited information regarding it at this point in time, as to whether this will be related to new broadcasts or replaying, and it could be just an experiment, that could never see the light of day in the app. But with X's persistent efforts to get more users to pay to use the platform, it makes sense that that could also be on the cards, which if it does indeed prompt more sign-ups, would then enable X to monetize more exclusive content, and build on its new "video first" approach.

Of course, all-in on video may not save X.

Many of those platforms, including the previous Twitter team, have tried this direction before, and no one has handled it well, particularly when you factor in paid subscriptions into the equation.

Twitter tried for years to connect "second screening" behavior to the app, bringing more exclusive content, especially sports programming, to the hopes that this would entice more users to become more reliant on Twitter in isolation as a singular engagement vehicle.

That did not work out and Twitter moved away from that approach over time.

Meta has also tried the same, with its Facebook Watch Originals, which it eventually shut down last year, while Snapchat, too, has now shut down its Snap Originals initiative, though generating rather significant levels of interest among its users.

The problem is, original content is expensive-it's very expensive-and if you want to attract a view, you're going to have to do that with quality and celebrity-led programs to make them want to keep coming back. What tends to happen, the aggregate production costs are just too large for social platforms to justify themselves-especially when they can't successfully monetize the episode that way to mitigate that upfront expense.

That's why YouTube tried "YouTube Red," which - like X's new push, offers exclusive content to pay subscribers.
YouTube Red cost $US9.99 a month, and brought with it new shows from Ellen DeGeneres, Kevin Hart, Demi Lovato, and more. It's also the home of the currently blooming cult Netflix program "Cobra Kai," but then YouTube realized that not enough customers were willing to pay to view its exclusive content, and in 2018 it retired the Red initiative.

Time has changed, and people are increasingly getting distracted by social apps. However, such an initiative has not had a great track record.
X is instead doing things different since it's focusing on news content, which generally has lower production overheads. It is also banking on celebrities who already have an established audience in the app.

On paper, that might be enough to send X to a level of relative success. But its first alliance, with Tucker Carlson and doing just about the same thing, is not the best precursor for this new initiative.

Carlson launched his X exclusive show in May after he was fired by Fox News, giving him a outlet to speak his polarizing views on issues with a heated sense of controversy. But with the blessing of owner Elon Musk, who has promised not to impose any restrictions over what these creators can post in the app, Carlson's X shows have reached millions of people, though the per episode viewership has declined over time, and the actual viewer numbers remain in question because X's video metrics sometimes mislead.

Last month Carlson started his own subscription streaming service, to generate more revenue from his X content-and some other X exclusives for subscribers. Carlson said he'll continue to broadcast on X and noted also that he did try to run his personal archive offering inside X itself, but could not get such a service up and running faster than he'd have liked.

So he isn't leaving X, per se, but it's pretty obvious Carlson sees more promising opportunities elsewhere that may not bode so well for the intrinsic value of Elon's app.

And even Elon himself may not be more realistic about his aspirations in this regard.

Last month, Musk asked YouTube viral sensation Mr. Beast to add a tweet directly to X, and got this reply:
Musk has often stated publicly that he expects X to start competing with YouTube soon, even stating at a company all-hands meeting last November that X was "quickly reaching parity with YouTube, and may exceed them." Which is not remotely correct.

According to Mr. Beast, YouTube has a much more developed monetization system compared to X or any video application for that matter because YouTube pays out an average $10 billion annually to creators via the YouTube Partner Program.

In contrast, X is likely to pay less than $30 million in creator rewards this year under the so-called Creator Ad Revenue Share. Indeed, X is only expected to bring in around $2.5 billion in total revenue for 2023. It is well out ahead of YouTube.

With all these comparisons, it'll be very interesting to see how X manages to monetize and make the most of its newly acquired video content stream, and if it'll be any more successful than Twitter has been in the past in this regard. Again, with a focus on news content, it makes sense, and Elon will be hoping that it brings more attention to the app during what is shaping up to be a pretty tumultuous election year.