Facebook’s YouTube Competitor ‘Watch’ Launched Worldwide

Facebook has begun rolling out its ‘Watch’ video service — that was launched last year and available only in the United States.

Watch will let users watch curated content from various publishers on Facebook as well as original shows. The video platform will also show episodes that follow a theme or storyline.

Users subscribed to the page will get an option to follow the video channel and also get suggestions for similar content. There is also a ‘Watchlist’ for users to keep track of the new shows and view saved clips later from their News Feeds.

The social media giant will allow all content makers to feature ad breaks and the revenue will be split — 55% to the creators and 45% to Facebook.

Watch aims to compete with YouTube, cable TV channels and even online video streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Video, and Facebook’s own Instagram TV.

Facebook has said it will spend $2 billion to bring new content on Watch, but it is drop in the ocean compared to Netflix’s efforts.

In fact, the company should consider spending some of it on marketing the service as most Americans haven’t even heard of Watch, let alone the rest of the world.

In a survey conducted by Diffusion Group where 1,632 adult Facebook users participated — 50% had never heard of Watch, whereas 24% said they were aware of the service but had never used it.

Also Read: Amazon Is Working On A New, Free Video Streaming Service: Report