Is Periscope Poised to Be the Most Watched Network in the World?

Short answer, yes.  

But let me explain.

For those unfamiliar with Periscope - which is understandable since it hasn't exactly taken the world by storm - it is a live-streaming platform from the people who brought us Twitter.  In many ways, it is similar to Ustream and Justin.tv, which have been in the live-streaming game for years.  However, it is Periscope's integration with Twitter that seems to have sparked a more dynamic range of use-cases.

Here is how the folks at Periscope set things up:

What if you could see through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine? Or watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia? It may sound crazy, but we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation. While there are many ways to discover events and places, we realized there is no better way to experience a place right now than through live video. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but live video can take you someplace and show you around.

That sounds great, and they certainly aren't the first ones to say it.  So, why do I think Periscope will be different?  

I'll be honest, when Periscope first launched, I didn't think much of it.  A bunch of people used it to do a pirated broadcast of Game of Thrones.  That sparked a flurry of scare-mongering articles about how Periscope was going to be the next Pirate Bay.  Even though watching some random person's Periscope'd TV could never be confused with seeing it in full HD.

A few week's later, I caught a broadcast of a BBC radio news show that was also live-streaming on Periscope.  I wasn't compelled to start up my Periscope app to check it out but I did take note.

Then I got my new AppleTV.

While swiping through all of the apps and games I saw that Periscope had its own OTT app.  Intrigued, I downloaded it and started it up.  

What I was presented with was six rows of windows displaying screenshots of live Periscope streams.  The top row was "Most Watched Globally" and then the fives rows below were of the most watched public feeds in individual cities.  One of them was New York City, the place from which I was currently watching.  

Clicking on one of the screenshots opened a live feed of a woman walking through midtown.  It was almost midnight and kind of desolate.  She was not shooting herself, just the world in front of her.  And she was narrating as she walked.

156 people were accompanying her, posting questions and releasing floating hearts of approval.

Sure, there were a couple of assholes, but surprisingly few.

The next day, I found a young man broadcasting the sunrise from his apartment in Gaza.  He was talking about how we were all human and should love and respect each other.  Folks from all over the world, Miami to Mogadishu, were posting hellos and other messages of support.  The few negative comments were quickly pushed down by positive contribution.  

Ok, you're saying, that's nice but that isn't exactly "must-see TV."  Which is true.  For now.

By displaying the most-watched feeds in real time and letting anyone access them, without joining or following, Periscope is letting the viewing public decide what is "Must See TV."  And as more people join a feed, more people will notice the high viewer count and check it out for themselves.

Now, imagine a major event is occurring.  Let's say a huge protest that's turned violent in Chicago.  You select the Periscope app and see 500 people are watching a protestor streaming from the street.  More streams bubble up and before long there are numerous perspectives of the event, all of which are live, uncensored and being constantly ranked by total viewers.  Imagine how much more compelling that would be than the sanitized content of the 24 hour "news" channels.

With everyone just one click away from being a live news broadcaster and everyone else just a click away from becoming a viewer, the potential for engaging, important, entertaining, upsetting and revealing content is limitless.

Time will tell if Periscope becomes the breakthrough public live-stream platform of choice.  If it isn't Periscope, it will be another provider.  

The revolution will not be televised.  It will be streamed.