Former media heads from Twitter, Tumblr to Meerkat

Published Mon, May 11 2015 4:43 PM EDTUpdated Mon, May 11 2015 5:59 PM EDT

Recode

Kurt Wagner

Meerkat hires former Tumblr's head of media and partnerships, Sima Sistani (L) and Twitter's former head of media Chloe Sladden.

Source: Linkedin

Meerkat is preparing for a mainstream push.

The livestreaming app that took off around Austin's South By Southwest conference back in March has made two significant additions to its executive team. The company hired Sima Sistani, Tumblr's head of media and partnerships, as its new VP of media, content and community. It's also bringing on Twitter's former head of media, Chloe Sladden, as an official adviser. The news was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Sistani will be tasked with building Meerkat's first media team after spending the last year and a half building media relationships for Tumblr. She tells Re/code that until now, a lot of Meerkat's involvement with the media has been reactive, something she hopes to change.

"I'm looking forward to working proactively with media partners who want to push the envelope when it comes to live content — this is about participatory media," she wrote in an email to Re/code. "I don't think we've seen the best use cases from the medium yet. It's less about celebrity and more about content."

This is an important area for livestreaming apps. The potential troubles were highlighted during the recent boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao when copyright laws were put to the test. Lots of sports leagues and media groups are still trying to figure out how to work with livestreaming companies, so partnerships around this could be huge.

The addition of Sladden is also noteworthy given her most recent position at Twitter, which she left last June as part of a massive executive shakeup. As head of media, her job was to get the Twitter product into the hands of influential partners, like celebrities, television networks and sports leagues.