Broadcasters are using their Facebook Live streams to drive viewers to tune in to TV rather than putting their most valuable content there. They’re still doing plenty of experimenting, but a lack of revenue opportunities keeps the platform as a lower priority. “I don’t think [social] will be a place to distribute our most premium content unless the economics change significantly,” a CBS Digital Sports exec says.
Facebook has started running tests of mid-roll video ads inside live video broadcasts from top publishing partners, the company confirmed Monday. These are Facebook’s first ads that get served directly inside videos on the social network.
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Facebook is paying more than $50 million to 140 video creators, including legacy publishers, digital media companies and celebrities. BuzzFeed leads the pack with a $3.05 million deal over one year, with the New York Times and CNN not far behind, according to a document obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
Stations Getting Creative With Facebook Live
In newsrooms across the country, Facebook’s instant video option might be changing the way we consume social media. Reporters need only a smartphone camera and Facebook account to capture live, unedited video that can be viewed on their personal or station’s pages and websites. Consider it the visual equivalent of listening to the police scanner. Above, Kristine Sorensen, host of KDKA’s Pittsburgh Today Live, points out items for the upcoming show as she does a Facebook Live intro before broadcasting starts. (Darrell Sapp photo)
That’s just how broadcasters like ABC are using it, providing a more intimate, behind-the-scenes view of their programming to draw viewers back to their TV screens for the shows. One analyst calls it a “prisoner’s dilemma,” however. “The media companies are seeing linear TV viewership going down and they need to be creative to find young viewers,” he says.
In case you missed yesterday’s New York Times read on this, Benjamin Mullin’s take on news organizations’ adoption of Facebook’s live streaming service is a good collection of mini-case studies. He looks at how NPR, The Verge, BuzzFeed and KXLY Spokane, Wash., are using Facebook Live — a worthwhile scan for those looking for an entry point into video on the cheap.
