Twitter-Tastic HLN Upfront: Twitter Partnership, Nightly Social Media Show

HLN is pitching advertisers for the first time in its new incarnation as a self-styled social media hub for millennials. The news network, previously known for a focus on courtroom proceedings, announced a partnership with Twitter and a new nightly news program on Thursday, ahead of its upfront presentation with sibling CNN. The Twitter deal will give HLN further license to visualize Twitter data live on air. The data will be used, for example, to drive segments about trending topics on "Morning Express with Robin Meade." HLN is also working with Twitter on a "Tweet DVR," which will capture live Tweets about HLN programs and insert them in consumers' DVR playback, the network said. And during its coverage of this year's mid-term elections, HLN will try to use Twitter to uncover issues that matter to people and get them to the polls -- while creating new sponsorship opportunities across TV, digital and social media, the network said. HLN will also join the Twitter Amplify program, which helps networks promote sponsored video clips on Twitter. Twitter has also been at the forefront of CNN Worldwide efforts lately. CNN reportedly is building a digital studio to create short video clips meant to travel well in social media. According to the Wall Street Journal, its first project will be a news series built specifically to be viewed and shared on Twitter. Earlier in the year CNN announced a partnership with Twitter and Dataminr to create a new tool for journalists that alerts them to information that's emerging on Twitter in real time. At the time, CNN executives said they would use it to help shape their on-air coverage. On the programming front, HLN picked up "The Daily Share," a one-hour nightly news program that will provide a digest of what people are watching, searching for, playing, sharing, shopping for and creating in their social media lives. Also in development is "2 Spouses, 3 Houses," in which YouTube celeb Jessica Edwards looks at a couple's social media "likes, hearts and pins" to help find choices for their dream home; a game show, "America's Most Liked"; "What's Trending," a weekly look at trending topics and personalities; and "Web Mysteries," a half-hour series that seeks the truth behind the internet's most fascinating stories and videos.

Twitter-Tastic HLN Upfront: Twitter Partnership, Nightly Social Media Show

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