All aboard the live video streaming bandwagon.
Tumblr, the blogging service Yahoo acquired in 2013 for $1.1 billion, looks to be the newest passenger on that train, according to a new corporate blog Tumblr has set up for its upcoming service. The new blog, first spotted by Twitter user David Chartier, says that Tumblr’s live video service will debut on Tuesday.
The blog doesn’t offer many details about the service other than its launch date and a schedule of streams Tumblr plans to broadcast tomorrow, such as a session with a Harlem Globetrotters player.
Https://twitter.com/chartier/status/744380664468873216
Along with some scheduled broadcasts, Tumblr also plans to introduce a feature for users to broadcast their own live videos, according to a report from TechCrunch, citing anonymous sources. This would put Tumblr in direct competition with Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook’s Live Video, although it’s unclear whether video streaming would be part of Tumblr’s existing app or would come as a separate app.
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Tumblr’s foray into live video streaming comes at a critical time for the service. Despite its huge popularity when acquired by Yahoo, Tumblr has reportedly since lost traction. Yahoo eventually decided to write down $230 million of the blogging service’s value, an admission that the acquisition isn’t paying off as planned. Tumblr also failed to hit Yahoo’s ambitious $100 million ad revenue target set in 2014, according to a recent story by Mashable.
It’s unclear whether live video streaming will help Tumblr get back on track, though the company is also planning to unveil a larger strategy for real-time content on Tuesday, according to TechCrunch.
Coins2Day has contacted Tumblr and will update this story if we hear more.