So here’s something interesting. Citing “industry sources,” Recode reports that Facebook has been talking to several premium cable networks — including Starz, Showtime and HBO — to sell video-on-demand subscriptions to some of its 2.3 billion users. It would also stream programming created by those networks, probably through its Facebook Watch hub. According to Recode, Facebook is looking to launch this new service in the first half of 2019.
We’re still considering this a rumor, but it would make sense for Facebook, which has been trying to break into the video-on-demand market for a while with mostly underwhelming results; I always have to remind myself that Facebook even has a video arm. The biggest thing it’s done so far is probably secure the rights to stream episodes of classic shows like Buffy the Vampire Slaryer, Angel and Firefly. But the company certainly has the money to make a bigger splash, and if it offered, say, another way to way to watch the final season of Game of Thrones ahead of its premiere in April, it could definitely get people talking.
As Recode points out, this would be a big change for Facebook, which has always kept its core service free and made money off advertising…LOTS of advertising. Selling a paid TV service directly to users would be different, but it would keep those users on Facebook.
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