Facebook has just moved an inch closer to your smart TV, and their quest for TV domination has just started. Facebook has confirmed that they would be launched dedicated apps for Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV and Amazon Fire TV, thereby enabling access of their video-rich platform to TV viewing audience as well.
And no, this is not a mere coincidence, because Facebook wants a slice of TV advertisement dollars, and the rolling out of dedicated TV apps is part of their greater strategy to dominate TV market.
We have already reported Facebook’s inclination towards TV advertisement market, and how their focus is now entirely based on this segment.
During a Code Media conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, California, Dan Rose, Facebook’s VP of Partnerships confirmed the development as he said, “A lot of people when they’re watching video on News Feed during the day will save it for later because they don’t have time to watch that three-minute video. Now it’s easy to go on your TV if you want to do that at night.”
How Will These App Work?
Either this app would be installed by default in smart TVs or they would be externally installed via set-top boxes.
Once installed, viewers of TV can watch Facebook videos right on their television. Besides, in case a Facebook user saves a video while watching it on the smartphone, the same be viewed on high definition smart TV when that user gets back to home.
Once the viewer starts developing a habit of watching Facebook videos on a big screen, then advertisers can be successfully convinced to pay top dollars, which would be in-sync with TV advertisements, which is valued at $70 billion in the US alone.
In fact, Facebook wants to create a closed digital ecosystem comprising of mobile, desktop and TV, and powering this would be videos.
Rose also said, “We want people to be able to consume content wherever they are – whether it’s on their phone, whether it’s on their computer — and TV is just another screen for that.”
Facebook’s Push for Videos and TV Content
As we had shared earlier, Facebook is slowly but gradually transforming from a ‘mobile first’ to a ‘video first’ media company, as they have launched several crucial features and products concerning videos in the last few months.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said to investors last month: “I see video as a mega trend on the same order as mobile. That’s why we’re going to keep putting video first across our family of apps and making it easier for people to capture and share video in new ways.”
Not only Facebook is forging alliances with big production houses, but they are also indirectly encouraging video content creators to create longer, 3 minute+ videos.
Facebook’s push for live streaming is pretty well known now, and they idea for a dedicated video feed in mobile app is also slowly becoming a reality.
They have been testing mid-video advertisements for a while, and more and more video posts are being shown to their users which enabled massive 100 million hours of video viewing on their platform every day in 2016.
But clearly, Facebook wants more. And their newest apps for TV will certainly help their cause.
Will you watch Facebook videos on your TV? Do let us know by commenting right here!
