In a push to catch up with its competitors, Facebook has ordered its first original series. Called "Last State Standing", the competition-based reality show from "American Ninja Warrior" producer A. Smith and Co. will feature one challenger from each state, vying to be, you guessed it, the representative of the last state standing.
No further details about the show, who may host or what kind of harrowing, entertaining challenges contestants might face are available at this time.
Facebook has been working to break into the world of streaming for some time. In December it was reported that Facebook was fishing for content, and in May a deal was struck up with Vox Media, BuzzFeed, ATTN, and Group Nine Media to produce both long and short form videos for Facebook TV. The initiative is headed up by their new head of global creative strategy (and Allison Williams' spouse) Ricky Van Veen.
During the company's earnings call in May, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed a desire for what he called "anchor content" to bring people to the video tab on the website. CFO David Wehner said the company was looking at “kickstarting an ecosystem for longer-form content on Facebook.”
Reuters reported in May that Facebook could pay up to $250,000 per episode for its original long-form video content, as well as $10,000 to $35,000 an episode for licensing its future shorter-form content.
The social media giant is also in talks to revive the former MTV series "Loosely Exactly Nicole" which aired for a single season in 2016 before being cancelled due to low ratings.
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