Facebook, Inc. FB recently acquired streaming rights to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly from Twenty-First Century Fox FOXA. The classic shows are available to U.S. users for free on Facebook Watch.
Facebook is looking to boost watch time and engagement levels by bringing these classic shows, which have a dedicated fan base. These users are likely to engage in repeat viewings.
Facebook is also boosting Watch's original content portfolio. Earlier this year, the company ordered a 10-episode series named Limetown, following the recent release of Sorry for Your Loss. Reportedly, Facebook is also working on Catherine Zeta-Jones' dark comedy, Queen America.
Additionally, the company believes that its co-viewing feature – Watch Party will enhance social viewing and user interactions, thereby increasing the time spent on the platform.
Notably, more than 50 million users co-viewed videos for at least one minute a month on Watch in the United States. Moreover, the total time spent by a user on watching videos on Facebook has increased 14 times since the beginning of this year.
Facebook is also expanding its reach into live sports by inking deals with the likes of Union of European Football Associations, Major League Baseballm and La Liga.
The video push will also let Facebook tap the digital video advertising industry, which is expected to be more than $22 billion by 2021, per eMarketer. Video ads are expected to bring in additional ad dollars (98.6% of total revenues in third-quarter 2018) apart from messaging and Stories ad revenues there by slowly diversifying revenues from News Feed ads.
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