Australia’s The X Factor to Debut New Season on Facebook

SYDNEY: The first episode of Australia’s The X Factor is slated to premiere on Facebook tomorrow following an agreement between the social media giant and Seven West Media.

That episode will be a targeted, limited release to Facebook users, available for a short window of time. It will be shown on demand, optimized for delivery over mobile networks. GlaxoSmithKline secured a marketing partnership with their Panadol brand and Seven for this venture. The show’s new season officially starts Sunday.

The Facebook launch comes ahead of Seven’s promise to live-stream its three broadcast channels—Seven, 7TWO and 7mate—across all delivery platforms and in all Seven-owned capital cities and regions starting December 1.

Clive Dickens, the chief digital officer at Seven West Media, said: “Big, live-event TV and social go hand-in-hand and we are thrilled to work with our friends at GSK, FremantleMedia and Facebook on this true Australian media first. Television is rapidly evolving and at Seven we are accelerating our innovation to exceed the expectations of our audiences and partners.”

Jason Juma-Ross, Facebook’s Australian head of technology, communications and content, remarked: “This partnership will allow people in Australia to watch the content they care most about, when they want to see it. 9.6 million people come to Facebook on a mobile phone every day and we’re delighted to be working with Seven and FremantleMedia to offer this first look opportunity to people who love the show.”

Kurt Burnette, the chief revenue officer at Seven West Media, added: “TV influences social conversation every week. This promote-first-on-Facebook initiative will combine the scale of Seven’s audience and brand with the one-to-one connection that Facebook can bring. The two working together should help us better understand audience feedback for the benefit of advertisers and add to our overall audience sampling. Test and learn is an important part of our sales strategies.”