Former President Donald Trump appears intent to launch a subscription streaming video service, even as his company’s flagship product Truth Social has thus far failed to take off.
Trump Media and Technology Group, led by CEO Devin Nunes, is actively beginning to build out the streaming service, and securities filing Friday details what the company has in store.
While its original investor presentation was vague about its entertainment and news plans (photos included Trump presenting a sumo wrestling trophy, and a boxing match), the S-1 filing provides specificity.
“TMTG+ intends to offer programs including, but not limited to blue collar comedy, cancelled shows, Trump-specific programming, faith-based shows, family entertainment, shows that embrace the Second Amendment, and news,” the filing says. “TMTG intends to license, produce, and deliver news, sports, and non-woke entertainment content through this platform.”
But the filing is also somewhat contradictory, saying elsewhere that: “Though similar to Netflix, Disney+, and other current offerings, TMTG intends to produce or acquire entertainment simply for entertainment’s sake… TMTG will not censor the creators of entertainment for TMTG+, nor will it insist that its programming push some particular political ideology.”
However, in another section of the filing the company says that “TMTG+ will provide a platform for conservative and/or libertarian views, and otherwise cancelled content from other broadcast television and/or digital streaming platforms,” which suggests that ideology may be a factor in the programming it picks up.
In addition to details about its video plans, the company says it also intends to launch and commercialize a podcast network.
The S-1 also details a license agreement with Trump that could allow him to appear on paid programming for other outlets, or otherwise force TMTG to pay him handsomely.
“If President Trump receives a bona fide offer to be featured on any non-TMTG streaming video production or on any non-TMTG podcast platform, TMTG has the right to create a substantially similar video production or podcast opportunity on terms more favorable than those offered by the non-TMTG service providers,” the company said in the filing.
The careers section of TMTG’s website confirms that the streaming service is in active development, with two open New York-based job listings tied to it.
The jobs are for a content acquisition executive, and a content development manager, with each job initially posting a salary range of up to $220,000 (as of writing the salary range had been removed). The jobs would see the staffers acquiring outside productions, or developing programming internally.
The streaming service, which is being called TMTG+ in investor presentations and securities filings, has garnered less attention than Truth Social, the Twitter clone that is the cornerstone of TMTG’s operations, but it was also announced last year when the company announced its plans to go public via a SPAC merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.
The end product, assuming it does come to market, is unlikely to be called TMTG+. TMTG appears to have acquired the domain TrumpPlus.com, and the trademark for TruthPlus, either of which could make for a logical option.
TMTG has serious ambitions in streaming. According to a Nov. 2021 investor presentation, the company released projections suggesting that the service could have 40 million subscribers by 2026. However, that number looks ambitious compared to the rest of streaming landscape.
“TMTG+ could deliver a price point closer to that of Netflix ($11.73/month) given President Trump’s highly enthused base,” the presentation declared.
But the service is staffing up at an uncertain time for the parent company. The SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp. is holding more than $1 billion that will be used to finance TMTG once the merger is completed, but DWAC still hasn’t completed all the steps to push the deal over the line. However, the latest filing suggests that the merger could be imminent.
At the same time, both companies are being investigated by federal regulators.
Meanwhile, Truth Social has officially launched, but doesn’t appear to be catching on with users.
And given streaming video’s current struggles, with high churn and significant competition, a Trump-branded option is far from a sure bet.
