BOOKING NEW ACT
Facebook set to put ‘Spotlight’ on short videos
Facebook is telling its video partners not to pitch content that appeals to old people.
Mark Zuckerberg’s social network giant, in yet another effort that can be seen as aping Snapchat, is putting the final touches on a new video offering aimed at the under-25 set.
The video service, to be called “Spotlight,” is expected to roll out in late summer/early fall to coincide with the new TV season, sources said.
“Spotlight” will offer bite-sized shows in distinct categories, such as beauty and fashion, food and f itness, sources said.
Facebook will look to add categories for music videos and gaming at a later date.
“There’s been some ad hesitation on the gaming side,” said one source familiar with the plans.
One upcoming show offers five-minute “whodunit” crime dramas, a source said.
One partner in the upcoming ‘Spotlight” video service told The Post that Facebook explained to them that everything had to appeal to young audiences.
“Spotlight” is being spearheaded by Ricky Van Veen, the multimillionaire creator of CollegeHu- mor.com, who is married to actress Allison Williams.
A host of youth-focused content companies are lined up to partner with the Facebook destination, which will have its own page, media sources told The Post.
That list includes Condé Nast Entertainment, Mashable, Refinery29, BuzzFeed, Vox Media, Attn:, and Discovery Communications-backed Group Nine Media, according to Digiday and Reuters reports.
No major media partners have gone public about their involvement at this stage.
“I’m interested to see if they open it to everyone,” said a source, noting that Snapchat’s partners are selected.
Another suggested that Facebook may even be challenged to find enough content since so many ri- vals — Apple, Amazon, Twitter, YouTube, Verizon and Netflix to name a few — are wading into the same niche.
Snapchat has signed up a slew of companies to make shows for its platform, including NBCUniversal, Disney, Turner, BBC, Vice and Scripps.
Facebook’s plan is to post six shows every day, according to Digiday.
As the “Spotlight” effort comes to the fore, Facebook Live, hobbled by difficulties in monetizing videos, appears to be fading.
“The live business model was pretty awful,” said a source familiar with the space.
“Ultimately, they were searching for a monetization strategy, and one never came,” the source added.
Facebook was initially paying $40 per minute of live content, but has cut back — renewing only a handful of deals, in part because advertisers have been freaked out by people who live-streamed killings.
“Spotlight” and Live aren’t the only plans Facebook has in the video arena, sources said.
It is also pursuing deals to acquire longer-form adsupported content, though ad agencies have not yet seen a pitch for that content.