Twitter has expanded its partnership with IGN Entertainment to serve as the official live-streaming platform for the video-game news and entertainment publisher’s coverage of 2017 San Diego Comic-Con next month.
The ad-supported Comic-Con live stream will be available July 19-22 worldwide at comiccon.twitter.com and on @IGN, with a total of about 13 hours of coverage. Twitter carried IGN’s coverage of E3 earlier this month, which the social-media player said averaged 2.6 million unique viewers per day.
On Wednesday, July 19 — the opening preview night for San Diego Comic-Con — “IGN Live From SDCC” will live-stream exclusively on Twitter. On subsequent days, IGN’s coverage will premiere on Twitter but run also on IGN.com as well as the IGN app and other platforms. However, according to an IGN rep, it will be promoting the Twitter live-stream for the duration of SDCC “and directing all viewers there versus our own dot-com.”
IGN’s SDCC 2017 coverage will include coverage of sessions with ABC, AMC, DC Entertainment, Lionsgate, Marvel Entertainment, Netflix, Starz, and TBS, among others. It also will feature live interviews with TV and movie actors and producers, trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, and the best of Comic-Con cosplay.
“IGN Live From SDCC” also will include live dispatches from the San Diego Convention Center show floor, Petco Park and the New Children’s Museum. The broadcast will integrate live Twitter conversations using polls and questions (like voting for best trailer, best cosplay, or biggest surprise), letting viewers participate in the SDCC festivities. IGN also will incorporate an exclusive “Twitter Mirror” showcasing the biggest talent attending Comic-Con.
For IGN’s Comic-Con live-stream, Twitter will pitch advertising packages including midroll spots. Original clips produced by IGN also will available for sponsorship and promotion on Twitter. IGN will produce the live stream from the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego.
San Francisco-based IGN, founded in 1996, is owned by j2 Global’s Ziff Davis.
