Twitter’s Growth Problem and Its Broadcast Ambitions

Twitter could earn more from its audience. Could it also give that audience a reason to grow? On CNBC in January 2017, Matt Britton examines the platform’s advertising model, broadcast ambitions and potential appeal to a buyer.

He argues that extracting more revenue from a stagnant user base has limits. Video and publisher partnerships might help in the near term, while durable growth still depended on attracting and retaining people.

Matt connects the challenge with Instagram’s rise as a place for influencers and pop culture. He sees Twitter becoming more like a broadcast network, with a relatively small group of users producing much of the content. The segment puts that group at roughly 1% of users.

That structure could also create an opportunity. As television moved toward digital and programmatic distribution, Matt considers a role for Twitter in aggregating live programming and helping publishers reach viewers.

In the discussion of valuation, he cautions against shorting the stock. With about 300 million users, Twitter remained a substantial network that could interest a buyer at the right price. Beyond Google, he names AT&T and Verizon as possible strategic fits given their media and distribution interests.

Matt closes on the gap between a company’s internal optimism and investors’ expectations. Stable revenue and stronger monetization were useful, but social-platform valuations also depended on a convincing growth story.

The interview captures Twitter at a strategic crossroads: make more of the network it had, while deciding what kind of network it wanted to become.