Twitter to Stream Weekly 'Empire' Pre-Show

Fox is turning to Twitter, a place where people go to talk about television, to drum up interest in its fall television slate. 

The broadcaster has unveiled a broad deal with Twitter that will see it create a new Empire pre-show as well as stream episodes of comedies Ghosted and The Mick on the social networking platform. 

"With so much competition out there, it's more important than ever to create innovative ways to promote our shows and connect directly to our viewers," said Fox Television Group CMO Shannon Ryan. "From introducing new fans to Ghosted, to creating a catch-up opportunity with The Mickmarathon, to building fan conversation for Empire with the live pre-show, this exciting partnership with Twitter allows us to tailor each initiative for every show." 

The Empire pre-show will kick off Wednesday and will run exclusively on Twitter during the entire season. Each week, castmembers and guest stars will be joined by journalists and influencers to discuss the show. It will be available ahead of new Empire episodes at 7:30 p.m. ET. 

The broadcaster also plans to debut the pilot episode of the Craig Robinson and Adam Scott comedy Ghosted on Twitter days ahead of its Oct. 1 television premiere. The show will stream this week on Twitter nightly at 9 p.m. ET from Thursday through Sunday. Each night's presentation will include an introduction from the Ghosted stars and a post-show Twitter Q&A. 

As part of the deal, Fox also is planning to stream five episodes of The Mick that have been hand-selected by star Kaitlin Olson. The marathon will begin streaming Tuesday night at 11 p.m. ET. Like the Ghosted stream, the Mick marathon will have an introduction from Olson and will feature live-tweeting from the cast and producers. 

"Fox programs and talent regularly engage fans and drive conversation on our platform," said Todd Swindler, head of live video at Twitter. "We're excited to partner with Fox to bring TV viewing and conversation even closer together. The discussion of TV shows has always taken place on Twitter and it is a natural evolution to add TV premieres and live pre-shows to our video experience." 

Twitter has placed an increased emphasis on its video efforts over the last year, announcing at the NewFronts in May that it would expand its efforts from live sports to also feature daily and weekly shows. During the most recent season of HBO's Game of Thrones, for example, The Ringer aired a weekly post-show, Talk the Thrones, in which staff members dissected each week's episode. Other Twitter shows include BuzzFeed's daily AM to DM and Cheddar's Opening Bell. 

The Empire live pre-show will be available worldwide on Twitter. Ghosted and The Mick will be available to audiences in the U.S.