Facebook signs celebrities to boost live video
The streaming feature, now known as “Live Video on Tumblr“, could prove to be a worthy competitor to other video streaming services such as Google’s YouTube, Amazon’s Twitch, Twitter’s Periscope, or Facebook’s Live.
After its first verifiable hit, Facebook reportedly signed deals with more than a hundred parties that range from media companies to celebrities, some of which involving millions of dollars.
The report said Facebook was partnering with media firms including the New York Times, CNN, BuzzFeed and Huffington Post and with personalities including actor Kevin Hart, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and National Football League quarterback Russell Wilson.
Tumblr’s plans with the live video service are not so clear at the moment, it is not certain if the company would be using them to a broader service such as Facebook Live, or an event specific or an advertiser/experience specific need. The push notification will direct them right to the live video.
Before Tumblr officially announces live videos, the website has been popularly known for their GIF content, as well as several other creative uses of the Tumblr blogs. Tumblr has already created an account named Live Video. CNN is third, with a $2.5 million contract. This year, eMarketer expects that Yahoo will capture 1.3% of total US digital ad spending - a slight decrease from last year.
In February, Zuckerberg said that live video excites him the most.
Readers: What are your thoughts on Facebook paying media companies, publishers and public figures for Facebook Live content? As earlier Facebook had launched this Live Video Feature on their site which got much of the popularity by it and now Tumbler is ready to launch this Live Video feature on their site. The company has added publishing and discovery support for the increasingly prolific video format on its blogging platform, which means that you can now post your videos from YouTube, YouNow, Kanvas, and Upclose to your site.
The days of the text post could also be numbered - at least according to Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook’s VP for EMEA.