Facebook to launch premium TV shows next month: Report

New Delhi, May 6: Facebook, in a big push in to television, is gearing to launch about two dozen new shows mid-June. According to a report in Business Insider, the social media giant is working on shows in two different tiers – long, big-budget shows similar to Netflix"s "House of Cards" as well as shorter 5-10 minutes shows that could also feature in Facebook"s new video tab. The new video tab is slated to roll out eventually on Facebook app.

Facebook has already greenlit a virtual reality (VR) dating show, in which people will be made to go on their first dates in VR before actually meeting in person. The report further states that Facebook will focus on teen-centric shows as the company sees rival Snapchat as one of its main competitors in this space. Snapchat continues to attract young users thanks to its youth-centric show deals for Discover section.

“Facebook has tapped A-list celebrities to star in some of the shows, according to multiple people briefed on the plans,” read the Business Insider report. Another category that the social media giant is actively looking into is sports. Facebook reportedly has had talks with MLB as well.

Facebook will monetize its new premium service via advertisements that it"ll play in between videos, which will boost revenue, but with lower margins. With 1.2 billion global users on its platform, the company sees video content as an opportunity to tie-up with more advertisers. The social media giant has already started to test Ad Breaks in on-demand as well as live videos on Facebook.

Clearly, Facebook plans to move ahead with video content as it the major focus. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in company"s Q1 earnings call, said that he has been doubling down on investment in video, predicting that the news feed will eventually be mostly video.