ENTERTAINMENT: Twitch

Twitch is a popular online streaming platform that is built around entertainment. It has numerous ways of generating income, in particular: ad revenue, and taking a cut when viewers support their favorite streamers.

When a viewer is watching a livestream, they will normally see a 30 second ad every half hour. The streamer can also force an ad to play: this has the benefit of allowing the streamer to take a short break, and depending on the length of the ad it stops pre-roll ads from playing.

Viewers can support their favorite streamers in two primary ways, by doing so Twitch will take a cut: a form of digital currency called “bits” and through subscribing (paying a monthly amount to the streamer/Twitch). Subscribership earns Twitch 50% of the monthly amount, bits work like tips that can be pre-purchased and put into a wallet: the portion Twitch gets is received on purchase.