Facebook plans to buy original shows to fill its new video-only feed

Facebook wants to become more of a destination for video viewers, on par with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and YouTube. That’s why the company is ramping up the roll-out of a video-only feed and paying publishers like CNN, The New York Times and BuzzFeed to produce live broadcasts. And it’s why the company is now looking to spend money to stock up on non-live shows. Facebook has begun talks with media companies to acquire original shows as well as licensed programs that would be distributed on the social network, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed after Recode broke the news earlier on Wednesday. Facebook’s head of global creative strategy, Ricky Van Veen, summarized the social network’s strategy in an emailed statement. “Earlier this year, we started rolling out the Video tab, a dedicated place for video on Facebook. Our goal is to kickstart an ecosystem of partner content for the tab, so we’re exploring funding some seed video content, including original and licensed scripted, unscripted, and sports content, that takes advantage of mobile and the social interaction unique to Facebook. Our goal is to show people what is possible on the platform and learn as we continue to work with video partners around the world,” said Facebook’s head of global creative strategy, Ricky Van Veen, in an emailed statement.