Facebook is getting rid of its Facebook Watch show pages

All video creators will be soon be equal on Facebook -- at least when it comes to their Facebook Page format.

Facebook has been reaching out to its legions of video creators with Facebook Watch show pages informing them that this page format will soon be no more. These creators will soon find their show pages reverted to Facebook’s video page template. The change was first discovered by social media consultant Matt Navarra and confirmed by Digiday.

“We can confirm that we're merging the Show Page template and Video Page template on Facebook," said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement to Mashable. "We believe this move will help simplify the publishing process for our partners.”

When Facebook Watch first launched, a show page was required for creators that wanted their video content to be part of the platform. Facebook later opened up Watch for all video makers, regardless of whether they had a show page or not.

Still, show pages created a sort of tiered system of creators on Facebook because these pages were specifically reserved for Facebook Watch partners and other verified publishers. Users who wanted a show page couldn't just create one like any other Facebook Page. They had to apply for a show page through a form on Facebook’s website.

Beyond the exclusivity of the show page format, many video creators felt that Facebook’s reach algorithm favored these show pages over regular Facebook pages.

Video-centric Facebook Pages who were not approved for show pages were urged to use a new page format called “video page,” which basically used a Facebook Page design that centered around video uploads.

Some publishers also pointed out that show pages required video makers to create and run multiple pages for each show they produced. Facebook is planning to roll out a new “Series” feature which will apparently help streamline uploading episodic video content to multiple pages.

The social media giant’s video platform, Facebook Watch has struggled since it launched in 2017. The company has acquired rights to syndicated shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, signed deals with some of its biggest personalities to create Facebook-exclusive shows, and even provided support for some of its popular creators. Still, however, the video platform backed by the world’s biggest social networking website still hasn’t quite found its footing. Outside of a few niche genres, YouTube has remained the video platform of choice for content creators.

Facebook says the show page changes will roll out "in the coming months."