news culture Twitch: The new CEO makes a promise that will please all users. The end of one of the most hated aspects of the platform?
Twitch recently changed CEOs. And the least we can say is that the new doesn’t have the same vision as the old. Change is coming, it affects you and it can make you happy!
Dan Clancy, the new CEO of Twitch
After 16 years of good and faithful service, Emmet Shear passed away a month ago. However, the CEO of Twitch has been there from the start. In March 2007 he founded Justin.tv with Justin Kan, Michael Seibel and Kyle Vogt. When the platform became Twitch in 2013, he became its CEO. From the creation to the hearing explosion to the Amazon acquisition, Emmet will have seen it all. And after this tiring journey, he finally decided to leave the Hand to take care of another one of his babies (his real child). And for him another employee of the box was appointed: Dan Clancy.
It’s been over three years since Dan joined Twitch as Vice President of Creator and Community Experience. He gradually assumed an increasingly important place in the Lodge, even becoming its spokesman on certain occasions. Nothing to worry about a priori, especially as Emmet Shear seems confident about Twitch’s future: “I have never had more confidence in Twitch management, in our people and in our product than I do today (…) For many years I really felt that Twitch could die without my leadership and contribution, but I don’t believe that is no longer the case.” But the fact remains that the change in direction will likely be felt… and sooner than expected.
Goodbye ad?
You certainly didn’t know Dan Clancy before, but you could fall in love with him real quick. During a recent broadcast, the man returned to using advertising, specifically the so-called pre-rolls (which start as soon as you arrive live). When he visited the platform, he found that they severely impacted the user experience. “I don’t think it’s a pleasant experience, especially when you’re trying to discover new content.” He confirmed. And Twitch’s new CEO is not only aware of the problem, he intends to fix it.
Dan is considering changing the ad system on Twitch. “Testing is currently underway and we’ll be releasing things very soon that will really move away from the current system of pre-roll ads as people try to discover new channels.” he explained, still on the same show. As you will have understood, this new strategy is all about discovering new channels. A priori, therefore, pre-roll advertising should disappear when you visit a channel live for the first time. But their simple disappearance cannot be ruled out. At least we keep our fingers crossed!
