Facebook Australia today announced partnerships with seven Australian news publishers to experiment with video, trial new formats and build sustainable video businesses on Facebook.

The partnerships include funding to support the creation of exclusive news content for Facebook from a variety of Australian publishers including traditional news broadcasters and digital-first publishers. The goal is to bring relevant and timely news video to Facebook.

Premium news content from Australia’s leading broadcasters including Nine, Seven, SBS, Sky News and 10 will be available on Facebook from today.

Publisher partners will have full editorial control and will collaborate with Facebook to understand which stories, topics and formats are resonating with audiences.

Campbell Brown, Vice President Global News Partnerships at Facebook said, “This is exactly the kind of partnership we want to have with the news industry. Australia’s newsrooms are doing innovative, high quality work with video. Facebook is proud to support their great journalism and excited to bring this work to Watch.”

The upcoming original news shows coming to Facebook Watch:

• 7NEWS: As part of the partnership, 7NEWS has created ‘The Latest on Facebook Watch’ – a fast-paced daily news show hosted by 7NEWS anchor Michael Usher. With connection and conversation the focus, Michael will be your guide to the day – breaking down the news, unpacking trending videos and interviewing news makers.
• Nine News: 9NewsWatch with Sylvia Jeffreys will utilise cutting edge technology and the Facebook platform to transform the way news is gathered, broadcast and viewed. Premiering at 8pm weeknights 9NewsWatch will place the viewer at the heart of the program. The content will be innovative, in-depth and unlike any other news offering in Australia.
• Sky News: ‘Unpacked’ is a daily news show taking a deep-dive into a major news story each day, speaking with expert guests as well as reporting from the field to provide a unique point of view from everyday Australians.
• Junkee Media: The Takeaway is a nightly news show that delves deep into the trending topic of the day and dissects it from every angle.
• PEDESTRIAN.TV: In a weekly interview series over three months, PEDESTRIAN.TV’s ’15 Minutes’ will go behind some of the most memorable headlines in Aussie news history to understand the highs of virality – the fame, the fortune, the opened doors – and the lows, when the attention inevitably dries up and you’re left to deal with the aftermath of becoming a meme. All from those who’ve been there.
• Network 10: 10’s partnership will extend 10 News First’s national and state-based news bulletins onto Facebook Watch. ’10 News First on Facebook Watch’ will deliver national and local news bulletins every day, hosted by 10’s talented team of news journalists. With a highly engaged Facebook audience of close to a million followers and a weekly reach of two million, Network 10’s The Project will also optimise its agenda-setting news and entertainment content to reach social audiences.

Facebook Australia MD Will Easton said: “16 million Australians come to Facebook to share what they love, and discuss topics that are important to them. By partnering with Australia’s leading news and current affairs organisations we believe more Australians will be able to connect to and share timely, relevant and quality news video. We are working with Australian news publishers to offer mobile-first content and support them build sustainable video businesses.”

The partnerships follow the commitment made by Facebook Australia to news publishers in February this year to support programs and offerings that will ensure news publishers can continue their important work in our society.