April 25, 2024

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Facebook Korea said on Oct. 11 that it would step up efforts to nurture its video streaming platform Watch by offering highly tailored content for users and attracting creators.

Launched globally in August 2018, Watch is a video-sharing platform that streams content made by individuals, influencers and established media firms. 

Park Hye-Kyeong, head of Facebook Korea’s media partnership and entertainment unit.

“Although any investment plan has not been decided yet, Facebook considers South Korea as one of the important markets in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Park Hye-Kyeong, head of Facebook Korea’s media partnership and entertainment unit in a media event.

“The company is mulling over diverse measures to support local media partners, creators and studios as part of our efforts to grow the Watch platform here,” she added.

The media partnership team head emphasized that Watch is not just another streaming service, but one that helps users feel more connected. Watch lets Facebook users chat online with Facebook friends about videos they can watch simultaneously on the platform. If a Facebook page meets certain criteria, such as 10,000 subscribers and a video with 30,000 one-minute views, creators for the page could qualify for financial rewards. Creators receive 55 percent of revenue made with their content while the rest goes to the social media firm.

Facebook’s latest push in video has come amid heated competition in the streaming market.

Global tech giants, social media companies and traditional media firms, including Apple, Amazon and Disney, have jumped in the sector with the aim to take the lion’s share

Those firms have invested billions of dollars to produce original content on their respective streaming platforms.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp,com)