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Time Inc.’s Essence® Brand and Twitter Announce Livestream Collaboration for “Essence Now” Weekly Talk Show

May 4, 2017

(NEW YORK, NY, MAY 4, 2017)—Time Inc.’s (NYSE:TIME) Essence brand, the number one media brand aimed at Black women, announced today it is partnering with Twitter to livestream “Essence Now,” a weekly talk show covering all things entertainment, fashion, news and love and relationships. The latest collaboration for Time Inc. and Twitter, “Essence Now” will be the first live show on Twitter targeting Black women.

Fans of “Essence Now,” which was launched on Essence.com in 2015, will be able to enjoy celebrity interviews, musical performances, expert advice and more via Twitter – livestreamed from the Time Inc. Studios in New York City. The livestream will be available worldwide on Twitter in the coming months at essence.twitter.com and on @Essence.

“Essence Now” has established itself as the go-to destination for our consumers, who are undeniably enthusiastic and vocal users of social media,” said Essence Vice President of Client Solutions Cassandre Charles. “We are pleased to partner with Twitter, a universally influential platform, to expand our global reach and spark a dialogue worldwide around our audience’s passion points – from a multicultural perspective.”

Featured segments the ‘Hot List’ and ‘Slayed or Shade,’ which examine the top trending stories of the day, will anchor the debut episode of “Essence Now” on Twitter. The show will also include a special edition of ‘Kitchen Table Talk,’ presented as a frank panel discussion on the good, the bad and the ugly of marriage. The experience will also integrate live comments utilizing Twitter polls and questions from the Twitter audience using the hashtag #EssenceNow – enabling fans to connect and participate from anywhere in the world.

"It is very exciting for us to collaborate with Essence to bring their highly engaged audience a live weekly program on Twitter," said Anthony Noto, Twitter COO. "Essence's fans and viewers already turn to Twitter for smart conversation, and now they can continue that dialogue while watching “Essence Now” all on one platform."

Time Inc. has previously collaborated with Twitter to stream People’s Screen Actors Guild Awards Red Carpet Preshow and an exclusive cast Q&A for Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”

As an omnichannel brand, Essence has created a variety of original video series focused on topics including beauty and style, food, personal finance, love and relationships and entertainment – resulting in growth of 1000% in video views across the brand’s digital platforms over the past year alone. In addition, the brand’s signature live event franchise, the Essence Festival, delivers more than 100 hours of video and live stream programming throughout the course of the annual four-day event.

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ABOUT ESSENCE COMMUNICATIONS INC. 
Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) is the number one media company dedicated to African American women, with a brand reach of 21.2 million. With a multi-platform presence in publishing, live events and online, ECI is comprised of Essence magazine, the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African American women; the Essence Festival; Black Women in Hollywood and Black Women in Music events; Window on Our Women and Smart Beauty consumer insights series; Essence.com; and ventures in digital media (mobile, television and VOD). 

 

ABOUT TWITTER 
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) is what’s happening and what people are talking about, all around the world. From breaking news and entertainment to sports and politics, from big events to everyday interests. If it's happening anywhere, it's happening first on Twitter. Twitter is where the full story unfolds with all the live commentary. and where live events come to life unlike anywhere else. Twitter is available in more than 40 languages around the world. The service can be accessed at twitter.com, on a variety of mobile devices and via SMS. For more information, visit about.twitter.com or follow @twitter. For information on how to download the Twitter and Periscope apps, visit twitter.com/download and periscope.tv. 

 

ABOUT TIME INC. 
Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) is a leading content company that engages over 170 million consumers every month through our portfolio of premium brands across platforms. By combining our distinctive content with our proprietary data and people-based targeting, we offer highly differentiated end-to-end solutions to marketers across the multimedia landscape. Our influential brands include People, Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Real Simple and Southern Living, as well as approximately 50 diverse titles in the United Kingdom. Time Inc. has been extending the power of our brands through various acquisitions and investments, including Viant, an advertising technology firm with a specialized people-based marketing platform; The Foundry, Time Inc.’s creative lab and content studio; and the People Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN). The Company is also home to celebrated events, such as the Time 100, Fortune Most Powerful Women, People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year, the Essence Festival and the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. 

 

CONTACT: 
Dana Baxter, 212-522-1634, Dana.Baxter@timeinc.com