The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Facebook (News - Alert) has closed a multitude of deals totaling around 50 million dollars for outlets to provide content for its new live-streaming service. The list of partners includes some of the biggest names in media, like the New York Times, Mashable, and The Huffington Post (News - Alert), as well as some big name celebrities like comedian Kevin Hart and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russel Wilson.
It seems that Facebook has noticed the success of SnapChat’s Discover feature, which allows companies to pay to put their content in a section of the SnapChat app where users can view it.
Users can currently get their news, sports highlights, and entertainment through the app if they so choose. Facebook looks like it is hoping to build a better version of this with Facebook Live by attracting a wider range of content providers and displaying them all on their own platform.
“We wanted to invite a broad set of partners so we could get feedback from a variety of different organisation about what works and what doesn’t,” commented Facebook’s vice president of global operations and media partnerships Justin Osofsky in an email.
It seems the plan for Facebook is to disrupt other, similar platforms, despite being late to the party, through its superior content.
Facebook seems like it is ready to launch a fledgling version of Facebook Live in the near future, Osofsky said. “We have an early beta programm for a relatively small number of partners that includes a broad range of content types from regions around the world.”
It will be interesting to see the amount of success that this Facebook Live service has. People tend to react differently to sweeping changes in their social media platforms (for example, the lukewarm reaction to Twitter’s (News - Alert) Moments feature). Facebook is banking on their superior content to carry the day for them with Facebook Live, and has invested the time and money in it. It will be a feature to keep a close eye on in the near future.