Trump's Truth Social to launch live TV service, but 'DJT' stock keeps sinking

By Tomi Kilgore

Streaming service's live TV network to include news, religious and family-friendly content

Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. initially rose after the social-media platform Truth Social laid out its plan to launch a new live TV streaming network, but the bounce was short lived.

The stock (DJT), which bears the initials of former president Donald J. Trump, took a dive into negative territory soon after the opening bell, then continued its descent to fresh three-month lows.

After being up as much as 5.1% before the open, and up 3.2% moments after the open, the stock was recently tumbling 14.3% in afternoon trading.

It was on track for the lowest close since Jan. 16. That was the day the stock, which traded at that time under the Digital World Acquisition Company's name and the "DWAC" ticker, soared 29% as investors cheered Trump's impending victory at Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses.

The stock has plunged 54.4% since it started trading under the "DJT" ticker, and has plummeted 65.6% since it closed a postmerger high of $66.22 on March 27.

Read: 'DJT' stock tumbles as Trump and many others file for the sale of their shares.

On Tuesday, the Trump Media said it has completed the research and development phase for the launching of its content-delivery network (CDN).

"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," said Chief Executive Devin Nunes. "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 canceled."

The company didn't give a time for the launch of the CDN, but said it will be rolled out in three phases.

The CDN will first become available on the Truth Social app. Second, the company will release stand-alone Truth Social "over-the-top" streaming apps. And finally, it will release Truth Social streaming apps for TV.

The company said the content will include live TV news networks, religious channels, family-friendly films and documentaries. It will also include content that has been "canceled," or is being "suppressed" on other platforms.

Despite the postmerger selloff, the stock has still run up 30.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 index SPX has gained 5.8%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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04-16-24 1408ET

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