Facebook Intensifies Hunt for TV-Like Video Programming
March 03 2017 - 9:55AM
Dow Jones News
By Deepa Seetharaman and Jack Marshall
Facebook Inc.'s plans for video programming are starting to come
into focus.
Executives for the social media giant are soliciting pitches for
TV-like original programming in about half a dozen genres,
including sports, science, pop culture, lifestyle, gaming and
teens, people familiar with the matter said.
The company is mainly interested in weekly series, with episodes
lasting up to 30 minutes. One genre Facebook isn't interested in
for this initiative: hard news, a fact that is rankling some news
organizations which already publish video to Facebook's platform
and view it as a growth area.
Facebook has signaled it is willing to pay for some shows, and
can offer a "premium digital rate" for scripted content or roughly
low- to mid-six figures per episode, according to one of the people
familiar with the matter. High budget TV shows from the likes of
Netflix or major TV networks cost in the range of several million
dollars per episode.
The push on original programming is being led by CollegeHumor
founder Ricky Van Veen, who joined Facebook last year. Beyond
licensing payments for some content, Mr. Van Veen's team is
promising creators a cut of the ad revenue and a prominent spot
within the newly launched video tab in the Facebook mobile app, the
people familiar with the matter said. Facebook has referred to the
feature as "Spotlight" in the discussions.
Facebook declined to comment.
Details of Facebook's video acquisition efforts were reported
earlier by Digiday.
The video content plans are part of Facebook's broader efforts
to change how people use the platform and lure ad dollars that
marketers generally spend on television.
Today, users check Facebook whenever they have a spare moment
and stumble across videos in their feed. By offering content that
can only be found on Facebook, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is
hoping its two billion monthly users will start turning to the
platform more often and for longer periods, as they would TV.
Besides launching the new video tab, a home for TV-like content,
Facebook also launched an Apple TV app which it described as a way
for consumers to "sit back, relax, and enjoy Facebook videos" on
their TV sets.
Facebook, which has been hit with criticism in recent months
over alleged liberal bias and being a conduit for fake news, is
avoiding hard news altogether for its latest video initiative, the
people familiar with the matter said. News organizations have been
the major partners for Facebook on its separate live video project.
Facebook has paid news organizations like the New York Times and
CNN millions of dollars to broadcast live video on the
platform.
At a separate set of meetings last month with Facebook, some
news publishers expressed concerns about Facebook's latest video
strategy, people familiar with the meetings said. Mr. Van Veen
didn't attend.
According to executives briefed on Facebook's video plans, the
social network now views the News Feed as a home for shorter,
news-focused content, and as a tool to drive viewers to the video
tab to access longer content.
The News Feed might feature short video clips or teaser trailers
designed to drive users to long-form content, for example.
Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com and Jack
Marshall at Jack.Marshall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 03, 2017 09:40 ET (14:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024