Trump Media Stock Hit As Truth Social Plans TV Streaming Platform

(RTTNews) - Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. fell more than 14 percent on Tuesday's trading on Nasdaq after the operator of the social media platform Truth Social founded by former U.S. President Donald Trump announced its plans to launch TV Streaming Platform.

The company, mostly owned by Trump, said it has finished the research and development phase of its new live TV streaming platform after six months of testing on its Web and iOS platforms. Trump Media will begin scaling up its own Content Delivery Network or CDN.

According to TMTG, the streaming content will be rolled out in three phases. In the first phase, the company will introduce Truth Social's CDN for streaming live TV to the Truth Social app for Android, iOS, and Web. Then, it will release stand-alone Truth Social over-the-top or OTT streaming apps for phones, tablets, and other devices.

In the final step, Trump Media will release Truth Social streaming apps for home TV.

The streaming content will focus on live TV including news networks, religious channels, family-friendly content including films and documentaries. It will also focus on other content that has been cancelled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed on other platforms and services.

TMTG CEO Devin Nunes said, "We're excited to move forward with the next big phase for Truth Social. With our streaming content, we aim to provide a permanent home for high-quality news and entertainment that face discrimination by other channels and content delivery services. There is a lot of great content that simply can't find an audience for unjust reasons, and we want to let these creators know they'll soon have a guaranteed platform where they won't be cancelled."

Much like the Truth Social platform, Trump Media intends its CDN to operate efficiently, cost-effectively and independent of Big Tech. TMTG's CDN is expected to greatly enhance and expand Truth Social, it said.

It was in October 2021 that Trump announced the launch of his own social media platform with access limited to invited guests only, after he was shunned by multiple social media platforms over dangerous and inciting posts.

In January 2021, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook had banned Trump from their platforms following an attack allegedly instigated by him on the US Capitol that killed five.

Trump Media's stock market debut on March 26 followed the company's business combination with blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corp. The stock had climbed as much as 50 percent in the initial trading on its public debut, closing the first day at 16.1 percent higher.

However, the shares were trending down since then. On April 1, shares of Trump Media had tanked after the firm reported a loss in its fiscal 2023 versus profit last year.

While the firm's market capitalization had reached $6.58 billion on the initial trading, currently it stands at $3.63 billion.

On the Nasdaq, Trump Media fell 14.2 percent on Tuesday's regular trading to close at $22.84. In the after-hours trading, the shares were however edging up 0.6 percent.