Look out Netflix and Amazon, cause here comes Facebook, which will be producing its own video content.
According to Deadline, Facebook has greenlit two original series, both in the reality/documentary genre, as part of their new push to move into the original content market.
The two series are Returning the Favor, with Mike Rowe traveling the country looking for people who “put their community over themselves.” The other is a sports docuseries about the Ball family, whose sons Lonzo, Liangelo and LaMelo “have taken the basketball world by storm.”
Related: Facebook continues rolling out Stories, their second Snapchat ripoff
With original video content, Facebook is hoping to build communities around serialized programming, similarly to how YouTube and its paid subscription off-shoot YouTube Red are supporting original channels and creators.
Nick Grudin, VP of Media Partnerships, says: “Our goal is to make Facebook a place where people can come together around video. To help get there, we’re supporting a small group of partners and creators as they experiment with the kinds of shows you can build a community around — from sports to comedy to reality to gaming. We’re focused on episodic shows and helping all our partners understand what works across different verticals and topics. We’re funding these shows directly now, but over time we want to help lots of creators make videos funded through revenue sharing products like Ad Break.”
Facebook is also hoping to expand on its Live content, by streaming sports events such as the UEFA Champions League on its own platform.
Are you interested in checking out Facebook’s original video content?