Facebook has launched its online Watch video-streaming service worldwide, just a year after launching the service in the US.
Facebook hopes this Watch encourage its users to spend longer time within the app
Facebook users can now choose from a range of shows from both established brands and new players and have the ability to view video clips saved from the News Feeds.
The company aims to allow all content creators to feature advertising breaks, so long as they hit a certain level. Up till now, only the selected publishers had been given the opportunity.
This facility will only be available to only videos shown to the audiences in the UK, US, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
The revenue on the video content will be 45% to Facebook and 55% to the creators. They intended to reveal the announcement on Wednesday but reveal it after the details leaked. As a result of this, some users may not be able to access its pages yet.
This Watch video service is often seen as a rival to YouTube, Netflix, Amazon video, BBC iPlayer, and Facebook’s very own Instagram TV.
A study published last week suggests that it only had appeal in its first year in the US. Out of 1,632 adults, Facebook users questioned, 50% had never heard of Watch, while 24% said they were aware of the on-demand service but had never used it, according to the Diffusion Group.
Only 14% told the market research firm that they use it at least once a week.
Another report stated that although some Watch video shows had attracted audiences numbering in their millions, they often struggled to retain them. “This seems to be a pattern with most Facebook Watch shows lots of people sample, few returns,” Verne Gay for Newsday said.
However, some big name stars have been involved in original programming made for the platform. These include:
- Bear Grylls, the British adventurer, who hosts a reality show Face the Wild
- Elizabeth Olsen, who stars in the forthcoming drama Sorry For Your Loss.
- Jada Pinkett Smith, who headlines the talk show Red Table Talk.
Watch with others
Facebook claims that its benefit against other platforms is how Watch helps viewers interact with others. “It is built on the notion that watching the video does not have to be a passive experience,” – Fidji Simo, Facebook’s vice-president of video said. “You can have a two-way conversation about the content with friends, other fans or even the creators themselves.”
Indian-based Watch viewers can now watch La Liga football matches live from Spain.
She also added that a Watch Party feature lets users co-ordinate themselves to watch a show together, while an Interactivity Platform allows creators to run polls, challenges, and quizzes to stimulate engagement.
Facebooks says the most frequent feedback it had from its creators over the past year was a call for it to allow more of them to include as breaks. In other to qualify, publishers must:
- Be located in one of the countries where the ad break facilities are available.
- Have created videos lasting longer than three minutes,
- Have attracted more than 30,000 viewers who stayed for more than one minutes when watching the content over the past few of months,
- Have more than 10,000 followers.
“For a very long time YouTube had the monopoly on online video when it came to offering creators a way to make money from adverts,” Alex Brinnand, TenEighty magazine commented. “And for a while now, many creators have been looking for other potential revenue streams some have started using Amazon’s Twitch for example.” “So, this will be welcomed as it provides further options.”
Facebook said that the second set of countries like France, Germany, Norway, Mexico, and Thailand would receive ad breaks in September.
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