Facebook has announced that it will introduce Watch, a new platform for users to watch shows consisting of episodes with live or recorded content. For some television viewers, that will mean the addition of yet another alternative place where they can find sports content.
Watch will have plenty of live sports and sports-related video on-demand as Facebook has spent months partnering with sports properties on streaming games and shows on Facebook Live.
Major League Baseball this season has a weekly Friday night game streamed on Facebook Live, and Univision Deportes has deals with MLS and Liga MX to have a number of live matches appear on Facebook. Those will be a part of the Watch platform.
Also on Watch will be the Golden State Warriors’ “Champions Rewind,” an eight-part video series that traces its road this past season to the NBA championship with episodes dropping every Thursday this summer. Other content comes from Facebook’s partnership with the World Surf League, MLB’s “12:25 Live” show, and shows from MLS, WNBA and Whistle Sports.
And a future show set to eventually appear on Watch is a documentary series chronicling the Ball family, including outspoken father LaVar and his three basketball star sons — Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo, UCLA-bound LiAngelo and young and talented LaMelo.
Watch is being tested as of now with a limited group of publishers and creators making shows. The platform initially will be available to a limited group of people in the U.S. on mobile, desktop, laptop and Facebook’s TV apps before it becomes widely available in the country. Of course, watching video on Facebook has become commonplace and even more so after Facebook Live launched last year.
“As more and more people enjoy this experience, we’ve learned that people like the serendipity of discovering videos in News Feed, but they also want a dedicated place they can go to watch videos,” Facebook director of product Daniel Danker wrote. “That’s why last year we launched the Video tab in the U.S., which offered a predictable place to find videos on Facebook. Now we want to make it even easier to catch up with shows you love.”
Watch is an update to that Video tab that attempts to create a more personalized experience as shows are discovered and communities of viewers are built. Sections in Watch include “Most Talked About,” “What’s Making People Laugh,” and “What Friends Are Watching.”
“We’ve learned from Facebook Live that people’s comments and reactions to a video are often as much a part of the experience as the video itself,” Danker wrote. “So when you watch a show, you can see comments and connect with friends and other viewers while watching, or participate in a dedicated Facebook Group for the show.”