Live video is messy. It's raw, unedited, and with new mobile apps, it's now capable of capturing many more people who aren't aware they're being recorded. And in some cases, that can add up to legal problems,
Conventional wisdom suggests timing is everything, but money and power certainly sway things as well. Being first only matters until it doesn't.
There's nothing like a brand-new medium to put marketing departments into overdrive, and it would be hard to find a better example than the recent, rapid-fire arrival of live-stream video apps Meerkat and Periscope.