Live streaming app provider Meerkat, Inc. is soon to be a live streaming provider no longer with the startup having decided to become a video sharing social network instead.

The news was disclosed in a note to investors (first discovered by Re/Code but since published by Chief Executive Officer Ben Rubin) where Rubin explained that while Meerkat was first to market, the live streaming space hasn’t yet developed into a self-sustaining standalone new content network versus an additional feature of existing networks such as Twitter, Inc. (Periscope) and Facebook, Inc. (Facebook Live).

“The year started on a high note … But over the year, it became rougher waters,” the note said. “Mobile broadcast video hasn’t quite exploded as quickly as we’d hoped. The distribution advantages of Twitter/Periscope and Facebook Live drew more early users to them away from us and we were not able to grow as quickly alongside as we had planned.”

“Our assumption was that by reducing broadcaster’s cost to broadcast to zero (no equipment, etc) we would be able to create a whole new class of live broadcasters like YouTube did with video and YouTubers. We always believed that it would take a lot of time, but we hoped we’d see more positive signs a year later.

“So far, the value proposition of being live is just not clear to people who are not celebrities/media/news. If you are one of them (and particularly if you have an existing audience on Facebook or Twitter), there is clear value in occasionally going live as a new way to bring content to your audience or interact with them…but for most regular people — it has been hard to figure out when or even why to go live.”

Pivot

To Rubin, and indeed the entire company’s credit, they saw the writing on the wall when it came to live video streaming and began pivoting in the second half of 2015.

“There is a bright spot to all of this. We found the best Meerkat moments happened when people who knew each other (either in person or online) came together live and interacted in realtime…with the support of our board and the enthusiasm of the entire team, we began building a new product in October around this concept and are feeling good about its potential,” Rubin said in the note.

Exactly what the new product is isn’t clear at this stage, although as suggested by Re/Code it may be something along the lines of “Google Hangouts or Skype, with a priority on smaller, group video chats with people you know versus strangers tuning in.”

Meerkat’s original streaming service remains up and running for the time being, although it may only last as long as it takes for the new product to be launched.

No time frame was given on when the pivot will finally conclude, but expect to see an announcement from Meerkat sometime later this year.

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