Impressed by the Tupac hologram from the Coachella festival the other day? Wish you were there? Well, it’s a bit late now, but what if you could catch these sorts of things in HD from now on for a small price? That’s exactly what Facebook’s beginning to offer, and it could be bad news for Sky.
On April 29th, the Backstreet Boys and the New Kids On The Block (collectively NKOTBSB) are performing at the O2. Not got tickets? We’re ashamed at your lack of dedication. But, whatever your feelings are on the boy bands of yesteryear, what’s cool here is a deal between the bands, Facebook and Livebeats, to stream the gig.
For $4.99 (£3.12), fans of the bands’ Facebook pages will be able to buy their way into a full HD stream with crystal AAC recorded audio. Good news for fans, better news for Facebook as a whole.
Apple TV streaming gigs: The TV takeover stats here
Livebeats’ tech also allows you to choose from multiple camera angles, consume some bespoke pre-recorded footage and access onscreen stats and figures. The question is: what’s next? This tech lends itself well to gigs, but it’d also be perfect for sporting events.
And that’s where Sky should start to tug at its collar. We’re deep in speculation town here, but what’s to stop US broadcast companies from bypassing Sky altogether and heading straight to Facebook? One of Sky’s biggest earners is its Pay Per View content such as sporting events. If that starts leaking into social networks, Sky will have a problem.
That’s especially as the integration with social networking will provide an easy way to get people talking about the event in question – in a way that’s easily trackable. Will Facebook be the de facto Pay Per View venue of tomorrow? Let us know below.
