Developed by TenTenTen, Tweetplay allows users to watch on demand video on Twitter. Star Sports has been roped in to provide users with IPL videos.

Cricket is a religion in India and Twitter knows it well. So this year Twitter has enhanced its integration with IPL by introducing some new features and carrying further some of its successful roll outs last year. With the IPL entering its final league, Twitter has launched ‘Tweeplay’, one of the first ever on-demand video replay product while creating an alliance with Star Sports India.

According to the alliance, during the Pepsi IPL Playoffs Star Sports India will provide on demand video content from the IPL match for fans on Twitter. Created by Tweeplay, TenTenTen, a company that builds digital assets for brands, the service will be available during the IPL playoff matches right up to the final on June 1.

How does Tweeplay work?

Lets assume that you are an IPL fan but for some reason you have missed out a spectacular six from Pollard/Dhoni. The option here is that either you search and pray that you find the video uploaded or scroll your Facebook news feed to find something. Chances are that you may find the video clip the next day.

With Tweeplay now you can simply tweet it out and Star Sports will send across the required video that can be viewed on Twitter. You need to tweet “@StarSportsIndia #StarSportsTweeplay Pollard Six” and in real time you will receive a reply from @StarSportsIndia with the video that you can watch within the Tweet. For a batsman, one can see the last four, last six or dismissal. You can find the complete list here but make sure the format is followed other wise the demand wouldn’t be met.

Creator of Tweeplay, TenTenTen will manage the technology and product, right from identifying and interpreting a user’s request, to delivering the video playing card on Twitter. Ramesh Srivats, MD and CEO, TenTenTen informs, “A lot of Twitter conversations are centered on prime-time moments. Tweeplay will enable content marketers to engage deeply with those who are immersed in conversations around content by providing the context in the form of the video. This is a great tool for marketers to engage with their audiences by providing genuine value.”

Tweeplay web and mobile roll out

The short on demand video fits well on a platform like Twitter. While right format tweets are being served with the required video, tweets with wrong format are being requested to type the right one with details in a tweet.

@PrasantNaidu We couldn’t find a video that matches your request. Here is how Tweeplay works. pic.twitter.com/5EWEpvCiXY — STAR Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 29, 2014

At times when the Start Sports India Twitter account fails to find a requested video, the account does not ignore the request but provides similar related content. This is a smart execution to build up the liking for a new feature which is yet to sink in.

@TheTechieBoy Sorry, we couldn’t locate the video you requested. But here’s Suresh Raina’s last four. https://t.co/iL9sj1DEZn — STAR Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 29, 2014

The videos are embedded in tweets with just a replay button at the finish, so you can’t perform any other operation on the video. The tweets also come up with a web link which serves the purpose when it is being viewed via mobile.

The only disappointment is when the feature is accessed by mobile, the video loads on web rather than in the tweet itself. The video requested by me had a link that asked me to choose a browser when I tapped on the video. Besides it also required me to install a video plugin to be viewed. This could be a major turn off for users and with mobile being the most deliberate choice for content consumption these days TenTenTen needs to look at it.

With Twitter’s interest in embedding video in a tweet for some time, the present roll out on web is interesting with a decent execution.

Football world cup next, will we see Tweetplay again?