Social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday announced "Facebook Watch", its video-on-demand service, often touted as video-sharing giant YouTube's rival, is rolling out globally for people to discover interesting videos and interact with friends and creators.
Launched in the US in 2017, the video service allows users to enjoy videos from different genres, including entertainment, sports and news in their personalised "Watch Feed" that carries a collection of recent videos from the pages they follow.
"We're building new video experiences that put people at the center, giving them the ability to shape the direction of the content. Over time you'll be able to find new video experiences in your Watch feed, like Watch Parties, Premieres and videos focused on audience participation," Fidji Simo, Head of Video, Facebook, said in a statement.
"We're excited to bring Watch to everyone around the world, and invite you to join in the action in our new video destination," Simo added.
Watch has features that allow users to discover new videos spanning entertainment, sports, news and more in a personalized Watch feed, a collection of recent videos from Pages you follow, a section for saved videos and videos users can participate in. “Over time you’ll be able to find new video experiences in your Watch feed, like Watch Parties, Premieres, and videos focused on audience participation — like the new trivia game show, Confetti. And we’ll make it easier to find live videos so you can discuss the big moments as they’re happening,” it said in a statement.
Notably, this comes across as a platform for people to connect with creators and publishers.
With "Facebook Watch", the social networking giant is also aiming to expand its "Ad Breaks" programme for partners to make more money from their videos using the insights, tools and best practices for Pages offered in the "Creator Studio."
"Watch" is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One and Oculus TV.