Facebook introduced Watch last year for the US audience as a new platform for streaming shows on Facebook. It’s available on mobile, desktop and laptop along with the smart TV apps. The shows are streamed and allowed in the format of episodes. They are either live or recorded. Most of the shows follow a theme or storyline. There is a Watchlist, so people could keep a track of shows that they follow and don’t miss out on the latest episodes.

Watch Platform Rolled Out Globally After One Year

Yesterday, the Facebook Watch platform was rolled out globally. It aims to be the go-to platform for episodic content. This VOD services is now available everywhere, allowing publishers and content creators a global platform to market their videos.

Facebook Statement – “With the global launch of Watch, we are supporting publishers and creators globally in two critical areas: helping them to make money from their videos on Facebook and better understand how their content is performing.”

Since its launch, the platform had made the experience more social, making it easier for users to watch videos that their friends have liked or shared. Facebook Watch allows publishers and content creators to create engaging shows keeping audience participation in mind.

In the month of June, Facebook launched some new shows that incorporates Facebook’s interactive features like polls and quizzes. It helps form a community between creators and their audience.

Hit Shows On Facebook Watch

• SKAM Austin – It is a transmedia show about teenagers’ lives
• Red Table Talk – It is a talk show with Jada Pinkett Smith and her family.

Facebook’s head of content planning and media partnerships, Matthew Henick said, “excited to bring a new distribution platform to our partners around the world.”

Taking the platform global

The decision to take the platform global was made to provide new opportunities to creators all across the globe and help them reach a bigger audience. This enabled more creators and publishers to monetize their videos via video Ad breaks program. The Ad breaks service will officially be launched today (30 August 2018) in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. This service will be launched in 21 other countries in September including:

• France
• Germany
• Spain
• Argentina
• Colombia
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Thailand

The service would support English and local languages. More countries and languages will be added in the coming months as well.

Easy Eligibility for Video Monetization

Facebook has kept the eligibility threshold low for publishers and creators to monetize their videos easily.

Eligibility check – Creators with minimum 3-minute videos and 10,000 followers, generating over 30,000 one-minute views within a 60 days, or meeting Facebook’s monetization eligibility standards would qualify to earn revenue from their videos.

 “This is a really important moment for us. It’s been a year of real progress for Watch. Every month, more than 50 million people in the U.S. come to Watch, and the total time spent has increased 14 times since the start of 2018,” said Fidji Simo, Facebook’s head of video.

What’s in future?

Facebook aims to spend somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion on content deals for its Watch Platform in the coming year.

According to a survey source – Benchmarking the connected consumer 2018, 50% of U.S. adult Facebook users don’t know about Facebook Watch service, while 24% have not heard of it or used it.

Did you know about Facebook Watch service? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!