It’s been a year since Facebook started rolling out its Watch platform and the time has come to take it global.
Following a full year of testing in the US, Facebook is now ready to make its promising TV-like product available worldwide. It has only been a month since Watch launched its first funded news shows, featuring an impressive roster of publishers, including ABC, Bloomberg, Buzzfeed, and NowThis, among others.
Facebook took the year to make watch a bit more social — like making it easier to see which videos your friends have liked or shared, creating shows that have audience participation at their core, and opening Watch to videos from Pages.
Taking Watch global means that Facebook will focus around the following pillars: Video discovery through a personalized feed, catching up with favorite creators and publishers, through a personalized Watchlist, saving and archiving videos to view later. Finally, priority will also be given to Watch Parties, a relatively new feature for friends to watch simultaneously and react in real time.
Taking Watch global also means new opportunities for creators and publishers around the world. Facebook is expanding its Ad Breaks program so more partners can make money from their videos. Further to that, Facebook will be offering new insights, tools and best practices for Pages in Creator Studio.
To access Watch on iOS and Android, look for the Watch icon in your shortcuts bar or the “More” bookmark. You can also find Watch on Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One, and Oculus TV.
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