• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 22, 2016

Social media analytics outfit ListenFirst Media has added Twitter data for television programming to its syndicated measurement products for TV, the companies announced Thursday. The deal with ListenFirst marks the end of Twitter’s exclusive arrangement with Nielsen, previously the only media measurement firm with access to Twitter’s TV data.

The new partnership gives ListenFirst and its clients access to a variety of data from Twitter documenting consumer social media engagement with TV programs via ListenFirst’s syndicated Digital Audience Ratings, among other products. The Digital Audience Ratings already incorporate data on social engagement for TV shows from Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Wikipedia, and Google+.

ListenFirst also includes Twitter data in its cross-channel social media analytics service (which powers MediaPost’s Digital Engagement Index).

The deal for TV program data comes as Twitter seeks to broaden user engagement around video, including live streaming on its own platform. This summer it struck a deal to live-stream several Bloomberg TV shows, and also plans to stream the financial network’s daily market coverage. Previously, Twitter won the right to live stream NFL games.

In September, Twitter introduced a new app for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Microsoft's Xbox One. The free app features all of the live-streaming video on Twitter, as well as popular and trending Tweets, Vines, and Periscopes. In October, Twitter announced a deal enabling Apple TV users to view their Twitter timelines, as well as reactions to live sports and news broadcasts all on one screen.

Earlier this month, Twitter bowed a new feature enabling its app users to create and tweet live video themselves. To go live, users just need to compose a Tweet, then tap “Live,” which will bring them to a pre-broadcast screen where they can frame their shot. When they are ready, users will then have to press “Go Live” to start broadcasting.