With the aim of giving
people around the world a new way to discover great videos and interact with
friends, content creators and other fans, Facebook has made its video-on-demand
service, Facebook Watch available globally while also expanding its Ad Breaks
program so more partners can make money from their videos.
According to social media
giant’s management, taking Facebook Watch global also means new opportunities
for creators and publishers around the world.
Facebook
Watch enables users discover new videos
spanning entertainment, sports, news and more in a personalized Watch feed, catch up with creators and publishers they love
by keeping a watchlist, or a collection of recent videos from Pages they
follow, save videos to watch later in Watch as well as participate in videos.
“Over time you'll be able
to find new video experiences in your Watch feed, like watch parties, premieres,
and videos focused on audience participation — like the new trivia game show,
Confetti. And we'll make it easier to find live videos so you can discuss the
big moments as they’re happening,” a statement from Facebook reads.
The service was launched
in the US a year ago to give people a place on Facebook to find shows and video
creators they love and to start conversations with friends, other fans, and
even creators themselves. Over the past year, Facebook has made the experience
more social — like making it easier to see which videos your friends have liked
or shared, creating shows that have audience participation at their core, and
opening Watch to videos from Pages.
“These updates have
helped people discover and engage more deeply with videos they love —
from Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, to beauty mogul
Huda Kattan’s behind-the-scenes show Huda Boss, to live Major
League Baseball games. Every month, more than 50 million people in the
US come to watch videos for at least a minute in Watch — and total time spent
watching videos in Watch has increased by 14x since the start of 2018. We're
excited to bring Watch to everyone around the world and invite you to join in
the action in our new video destination,” the statement adds.
To access Watch on iOS
and Android, users are urged to look for the Watch icon in their shortcuts bar
or the “More” bookmark. Watch is also available on Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV,
Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and Oculus TV.
Meanwhile, the company’s
Ad Breaks service, which is designed to allow companies monetize their content,
will roll out in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, August
30, and launch in another 21 countries including France, Germany, Spain and
across Latin America and Asia on September 21.
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