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Social media giant Facebook has made a move into dedicated video, pitting it against YouTube and TV networks.
Users will soon see a new Watch tab that will offer a range of shows, some of which have been funded by the social network Watch will be personalised so that users can discover new shows, based on what their friends are watching.
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| Ads will be key to Facebook's efforts to take on video giant YouTube |
Viewers will also be able to see comments and connect with friends and dedicated groups for shows. "Watching a show doesn't have to be passive," said the company's founder Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post.
"It can be a chance to share an experience and bring people together who care about the same things."
Video
has been available on Facebook for some time, but until now, it has
mostly been dominated by amateur clips or short segments from news
organisations.
The world's largest social network added a video
tab last year, and has hinted for some time that it might make the move
to producing original content.
Watch could open up new revenue
potential for both Facebook and programme makers, while users can expect
to see targeted advertising before and during the shows.
Analysis by Leo Kelion, Technology desk editor
Facebook says it hopes its selection of shows will address both niche and broad interests. If
the choice at launch is anything to go by, its focus will be factual
entertainment cookery, fitness and travel-themed programmes that play
well on a smartphone screen, rather than flagship dramas like House of
Cards or Game of Thrones, which are both more expensive to produce and
better suited for playback on TVs.
Product director Daniel Danker -
an ex-BBC iPlayer executive - told me that his goal was for anyone to
be able to make shows for Watch. For now, only a small set of
approved publishers can include ad breaks, but he said the list would
broaden over time, although it was too soon to say if it would extend to
all.
That could prove critical to wooing content-makers away from YouTube. For
the moment, Google's video streaming site still offers an easier way
for popular vloggers and others outside the mainstream media industry to
make money from their efforts.
But Mr Danker signalled that
Facebook is willing to take its time exploring what works on Watch and
would not even commit to it being rolled out beyond the US before the
end of the year.