Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is branching out to television production. The social network is having discussions with Hollywood studios with the aim of coming up with original TV Shows to stream on its website. Facebook intends to air the first batch of original TV shows by the summer of 2018. People familiar with the deal revealed that the company is willing to provide $3 million in funding per episode for the shows, according to the Washington Post.
What type of TV shows will be on Facebook?
For its initial offering, Facebook has already expressed interest in "Strangers," a relationship drama for millennials, and "Last State Standing," a game show with $500,000 at stake.
Business Insider cited that the company has also green the green light for a reality dating show that will be done virtually. It has also partnered with Conde Naste to produce a series featuring A-list celebrities.
The company is said to be looking to target an audience base of viewers between 13 to 34 years old and compete with streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon. The company might also be keen on rescuing cancelled TV shows from broadcast and cable networks or other platforms.
The social site is also tapping other communities like ATTN, BuzzFeed and Refinery29 for short-form video content that will run for 10 minutes. "We're funding these shows directly now, but over time we want to help lots of creators make videos funded through revenue sharing products like Ad Break," Facebook's vice president for media partnerships Nick Grudin said.
How will Facebook release the shows?
The social network, however, plans on releasing the episodes traditionally with one new episode a week, whereas Netflix and Amazon promote binge-watching by dropping all episodes in one go. Facebook will also share its viewership data with other companies, which the well-established streaming platforms do not do.
What’s more, the original TV shows will also be accessible via the social network's mobile app, thus extending the platform’s reach and usefulness.
Mark Zuckerberg clued the public in on this plan back in February. "The goal that we have for the product experience is to make it so that when people want to watch videos or want to keep up to date with what’s going on with their favorite show, they can come to Facebook and go to a place knowing that that’s going to show them all the content that they’re interested in."
