In an effort to expand the viewership of its video initiative, Facebook now allows its video content to be streamed into digital video streaming devices like Apple TV. While the Facebook video is playing on the TV, users can go back to their news feed on the device and the video keeps streaming without interruption.
Currently available on iOS devices, the Facebook app features a TV symbol on the top right corner. Tap it, and it will allow you to choose from a list of devices to stream to. Of course, for now you’ll only see Apple TV, but the company is likely to add other popular streaming devices after they rollout the Chromecast integration.
The ability to do this tremendously increases the appeal of Facebook videos. The company has already stated that video is the future of Facebook – video and mobile, actually, because that’s where the bulk of video consumption happens.
As video consumption grows and mobile data traffic increases, Facebook wants to be at the leading edge of that transition. With a user base of 1.7 billion, they control a significant portion of social media activity around the world. And now, with Twitter going heavily into live event streaming as of ten weeks ago, Facebook once again has the same competitor that it did ten years ago when both services were still fledglings.
Twitter has recently announced that it is opening up its Periscope live-streaming video service to media companies such as Disney’s ABC News, and this new announcement about letting Facebook videos stream directly to your digital streaming box clearly shows us where video is headed.
The biggest casualty of this transition will be traditional cable and satellite TV operators. A lot of video content is now moving to the streaming method of broadcasting via the internet, and regular TV programming will eventually be pushed to the sidelines – in locations where high-speed internet is not available.
It will be interesting, to say the least, to watch how long-time Facebook and Twitter handle their respective video businesses. They are once again playing on a level field because neither has a strong video presence. Yet. That could change in a matter of just a few years, but I for one would want to know who comes out on top when the dust finally settles.
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