Facebook’s big video push has reached a higher plane with the launch of a dedicated video tab named ‘Watch’. Facebook said Watch will be playing host to original videos and shows that have been produced exclusively for the platform.
The new feature will, however, be rolled out in a scaled manner with only a select group having access to Watch initially.
It will later be expanded to include the whole of the US before making it available to all anywhere in the world.
Some of the shows are being produced by Facebook itself, with smaller shows priced around $5,000 to $20,000. However, the bigger shows will no doubt be costing more, in the league of even millions of dollars, with Facebook retaining the exclusive rights to the shows produced.
Facebook is also wooing independent creators or movie makers to contribute more content for Watch.
The terms too have been made favorable to the producers where Facebook gets to retain 45 percent of the ad revenue while the rest goes to the content producers.
On offer will be shows that cover topics ranging from sports, science, tutorial or educational videos to also cooking. There is going to be a small TV shaped button at the bottom left corner of the Facebook mobile app, tapping on which will launch the Watch window.
Also, of course, it is all about ads as Facebook pushes to increase its ad revenue via videos all the more. Likewise, there is going to be ad breaks within the video though the exact formalities of the same are still being debilitated upon.
Further, it being a social media platform before anything else, it is only natural there are ample ways users can socialize with the videos. Those can be shared on the news feed for others to see while you can also interact with other fans as well as the show producers via their own dedicated groups.
This apart, Watch too will have a recommend shows section based on your viewing history. Then there will also be other sections such as ‘Shows Your Friends Are Watching’, ‘Most Talked About Shows’ and so on. You will be recommended to join Groups that are a close match of your viewing preferences and such.
On the whole, Facebook wants to Watch to emerge as another solid reason for you flock to the social media application. And the more people there are, more is going to be the ad revenue.