Facebook will livestream a presidential debate for the first time
Facebook will host the full live broadcast for the 2016 general election debates, marking the biggest event to take place on the company's livestreaming platform thus far.
On Tuesday, ABC News announced its plans to stream digital coverage onto Facebook. The partnership means Facebook users will be able to watch a live broadcast of each of the four upcoming debates -- starting with the first on Sept. 26 -- directly on the social network, either via desktop or mobile.
The stream of the debate is not exclusive to Facebook. ABC is also live streaming its feed on ABCNews.com/live, ABC News mobile app, Apple TV, XBox One and Roku. Additionally, ABC does not have exclusive rights to each of the debates. They will air live on CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and C-SPAN.
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But Tuesday's announcement is a sign of a new age for TV. It's the first presidential debate to be streamed in full on Facebook Live, and highlights the push from networks to host TV and TV-like content on Facebook.
Throughout the day, ABC is tapping Facebook exclusively to stream from watch parties across the country and inside the spin room, where reporters speak with debate participants, affiliates and other attendees.
In addition to the 90-minute debate, ABC will stream its pre-coverage that begins at 7 p.m., two hours prior to start time. The network plans to incorporate Facebook viewer comments and questions into its coverage, Variety reported.
The coverage on Facebook is free to watch and will not feature ads within the stream. It does require a Facebook account.
ABC's partnership with Facebook follows the network's decision to host live coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions. Those streams garnered more than 28 million video views across its Facebook's pages. While a view is counted after only three seconds, the numbers inspired ABC to partner with Facebook again.
“Given the tremendous viewership we saw across the ABC News Facebook pages throughout the conventions, we’re thrilled to continue the partnership and bring ABC News’ wide-ranging live coverage direct to users’ News Feeds for the debates,” Colby Smith, VP of digital for ABC News, said in a statement.
“As we move further into the election cycle, there continues to be a voracious appetite for live content and we know many users turn to Facebook to engage and participate in the conversation," he continued.
The other networks have yet to announce their digital plans and could stream a live feed to Facebook or another platform as well. That could turn Facebook into a competitive place for live video content not unlike TV or what Facebook users witnessed with streams of the climber scaling the side of Trump Tower in New York City last month.
Twitter, which has been positioning itself as a go-to live video network for news, politics and sports, has yet to announce streaming plans for the general election debates. The company partnered with CBS to stream the Republican and Democratic conventions last month. Twitter declined to comment to Mashable on its plans.
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
