Facebook launches Watch video service to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime

Facebook has launched Watch, a new video service available to its 214 million US users since early September 2017. The service is organized into two sections: Discover, featuring daily curated episodes, and Watchlist, which collects content users have saved. Watch aims to compete with premium services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, offering series, reality shows, documentaries, and mini-films. Content targets millennials with high shareability and short durations ranging from a few minutes to 30 minutes. Shows include Ball in the Family, a docu-reality about an NBA star's family; Returning the Favor, highlighting community-minded citizens; Humans, featuring portraits by a famous photographer; and Last State Standing, a physical competition among Spartan Race athletes. Fiction series include comedies like Loosely Exactly Nicole, starring Nicole Byer, previously aired on MTV. The service also features sports, news, and cooking content. Watch integrates live events, real-time commenting, and social sharing, allowing users to follow pages and see what friends and influencers are watching. Facebook leverages its massive user base of two billion people as of January 2017 to promote the service.