In its drive to become the only site you need ever visit, Facebook is now talking with television studios and other content producers about licensing scripted shows, sports coverage, and game shows in the hope of boosting its video offerings.
Speaking to Recode, College Humor co-founder Ricky Van Veen, who joined the Facebook team earlier this year to work on video, revealed Facebook’s goal “to kickstart an ecosystem of partner content” for its dedicated video tab that is rolling out on the site.
This won’t be the first time Facebook has turned to media companies as a way of getting more people watching its video platform. Back in June, it was revealed that the social network was spending more than $50 million to get celebrities and publishing partners to use Facebook Live. High profile names such as Kevin Hart and Gordon Ramsey were among the names involved in the contract talks, while Buzzfeed news was reported to be the highest-paid publisher, receiving $3.05 million for a 12-month deal.
Facebook is already many people’s first destination when catching up on the news, communicating with friends, researching companies, checking local items for sale, and much more. Challenging cable providers by offering original programs to its near two billion users is just another step toward it becoming an all-encompassing platform.
Funding original video content does, however, seem to contradict Mark Zuckerberg’s statement that Facebook is not a media company. When asked by a student if he intended to become a news editor back in August, the CEO said “No, we are a tech company, not a media company.”
