Facebook to Lift Live Video in News Feed, May Pay Celebs

Facebook was already on a video binge, and live streams are its latest fixation.

The operator the world’s biggest social network said it plans to lift more live video to the top of visitors’ news feed as they’re being broadcast, and it is on the campaign trail to get more celebrities on board.

The company’s aggression on video is aimed at making itself as a pre-eminent place for video on the Internet, taking on Google’s YouTube and positioning itself as a digital-age television alternative. Facebook moves like changing its algorithm to surface more video and autoplay clips, as well as new products like live broadcasting, quickly lifted it to more than 8 billion video views a day and 100 million hours of clips watched a day.

Also Read: Snapchat Steps Up to Facebook's League With 8 Billion Daily Video Views

Facebook’s News Feed will start classifying live video differently than normal clips, and the company is updating its algorithm so live content is more likely to show up high in your News Feed, according to a blog post Tuesday. The company said people spend three times more time watching a live video on average compared with the after-the-fact recording.

The company is also pitching its live video broadcasting to celebrities, including the potential to pay some stars to stream, according to a report by Recode. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is meeting talent agencies in Los Angeles this week to tout the live-video product, initially aiming to sign up about 100 testers broadcasting live on a regular basis, and may pay a subset of those people in exchange, the report said, citing people familiar with her pitch.

Also Read: Why 'Black Lives Matter' at White Male Facebook

Facebook gave famous people priority status in its rollout of the live video product, too. When it introduced the live video-streaming feature similar to Periscope and Meerkat in August, it was available to celebrities and public figures exclusively at first.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company is investing in live video and testing different ways to support partners so they begin experimenting with it. “Live is a really new format on Facebook and we’re just starting to understand it’s potential,” the company said in a statement. “We’ll be working closely with these partners to learn from them how we can build the best Facebook Live experience and explore with them potential monetization models.”

Who's Who in the Apple Vs. FBI Feud (Photos)

Tim Cook

Apple's CEO sparked headlines by refusing to help the FBI unlock an iPhone linked to a deadly mass shooting, shining a spotlight on a long-simmering tension between protecting either digital privacy or public safety from attacks
Getty Images
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik

The couple killed 14 people in December's mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Using a warrant to searching a car linked to the husband, Farook, law enforcement discovered a passcode-protected iPhone. They want to bypass security blockers to peek into the phone's data for clues about associates or possible future attacks.
U.S. Government
James Comey

The FBI's director defended the agency's request that Apple help crack the shooter's iPhone, saying investigators wouldn't be able to look survivors in their eyes if the FBI didn't pursue the lead.
Getty Images
Eileen M. Decker

The U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Decker is the top Justice Department official fighting on behalf of the FBI in court. Decker said the court's order would help investigators uncover the motives behind the attack. “We have made a solemn commitment to the victims and their families that we will leave no stone unturned," she said.
Department of Justice
Donald Trump

The Republican presidental candidate seized on the standoff pitting Apple against national security interests, calling for a boycott of the company until it helps unlock the phone.
Getty Images
Edward Snowden

The former intelligence contractor, who leaked documents in 2013 that exposed warrantless government surveillance, called the face-off "the most important tech case in a decade" and criticized the FBI for creating a world where Apple protects citizens' rights, rather than the other way around.
Praxis Films
Sundar Pichai

Google's CEO, who is instrumental in the world's other major smartphone operating system besides Apple's, was the first major figure in Silicon Valley to express support for Cook. He said requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices and data "could be a troubling precedent."
Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg

The CEO of Facebook, the world's biggest social network, said his company was “sympathetic” to Apple. “We believe in encryption,” he said.
Getty Images
John McAfee

The anti-virus software businessman, who is known for his own tangles with law enforcement, said he and his team of hackers would break into Farook's iPhone for the FBI at no charge, to eliminate the need for Apple to develop another way in. "I would eat my shoe... if we could not break the encryption on the San Bernardino phone," he said.

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Apple and the U.S. government are facing off over a killer terrorist’s locked iPhone. Here are the main figures in the case

Tim Cook

Apple's CEO sparked headlines by refusing to help the FBI unlock an iPhone linked to a deadly mass shooting, shining a spotlight on a long-simmering tension between protecting either digital privacy or public safety from attacks

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Who's Who in the Apple Vs. FBI Feud (Photos)

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