This is how the Philippine TV network GMA built a Facebook-only newscast

You may not have heard of Facecasts yet, but that’s just a matter of time. Facecasts - ”broadcasting” on Facebook - is a project-in-progress at some TV networks. The model is simple: Your audience spends more time on Facebook than on your site, so why not create a show tailored specifically for a Facebook audience?

GMA is one of the largest TV networks in the Philippines. It has 5 million fans on its Facebook page (about half of its bigger rival, ABS-CBN). On May 11, 2015, GMA put out its first Facecast, #GMANewsfeed (it got about 150,000 views in total, to date). These videos run about two-and-a-half minutes and are studio shot and produced.

Today, the GMA team puts out 4-5 videos. And according to the company, they picked up about 10 million views in June.

I caught up with Sheila Paras, the publisher of GMA News Online to find out more about her plans and how all this came about.

Why did you decide to launch a Facebook-only newscast?

Mainstream media’s biggest challenge right now is how to transition in how media is consumed. While broadcast TV remains the most-used platform for delivery of rich video content, alternative platforms are emerging and online video viewing continues to climb.

We’re at the tipping point, with digital media delivery and consumption gaining converts among all age groups, not just millennials. News outlets are casting for audience in new ways, creating content in the formats that work.

Over the last few months, we saw how Facebook Video surged to become the social channel’s number one content in terms of reach and engagement. All over the world, Facebook-native videos get 3-billion views every day. It’s a number we could no longer ignore.

We thought of how we could capitalize on our strength as a broadcast institution to engage and reach out to more people through Facebook. It wasn’t enough we were posting clips from our news reports; we wanted to give viewers original content that couldn’t be found anywhere else and tailored for them.

We realized that here in the Philippines, none of the major news organizations had yet to come up with a news program catering exclusively to the Facebook crowd. It was an opportunity we wanted to take, especially because according to Facebook’s latest figures, it has 41-million users in the Philippines - that’s 95% of the country’s total Internet users. Of this number, more than 32-million access Facebook though mobile. (This isn’t surprising since local telecommunication companies have whitelisted Facebook and offer it as “free” service.)

Since most people are looking at Facebook on their phones several times a day - Filipinos, at at an average of three hours per day - we created #GMANewsfeed, this mobile-friendly Facebook-only newscast that’s quick, snackable, and hip enough to attract even the younger audience. It’s GMA’s trademark style of journalism made even more accessible.

What were some of the issues that came up as you put the plan together?

#GMANewsfeed is a pioneering project in the Philippines. No established business model existed anywhere else. There was no proof that this would work or that our audience would embrace this completely without sacrificing page views and revenues from our YouTube channel and our main website. There’s no direct benefit in terms of income because Facebook doesn’t have a revenue-sharing scheme in place yet for videos.

I had to convince and assure the network that this could only result in an engaged audience, which would mean a bigger viewership, more click-throughs, higher page views for the site, and ultimately, more opportunities for advertising. We’re one month into #GMANewsfeed, and so far, it looks like this strategy is working.

Every user that’s on the internet is your potential audience, and they’re not going to sit around and wait for the news to come on in their living rooms. Viewing habits are changing.

How many people do you have working on it?

We have less than 10 people working on #GMANewsfeed. This doesn’t include studio personnel, e.g. technical director, lighting director, audioman, etc. It’s a full studio production.

What are their roles?

The Executive Producer takes care of the lineup, which she sends to me for one final go. The Executive Editor of GMA News Online also works with the EP on the show’s content. The EP also checks the writer’s scripts for accuracy. We have an editor, a graphic artist and a director, plus two social media producers.

What tools do you use to put this together?

This is taped as live in one of our TV studios.

How much time is spent putting this together? What’s the daily operational cycle like?

Production time usually takes about 2 to 2.5 hours.

Do you plan to add more Facebook-only newscasts?

Yes, eventually. The goal is to produce more original content for Facebook - newscasts, being just one of them.

What does success look like for this? How do you measure that?

We’re particular with how many people we’re reaching. Engagement, clickthroughs, and how long people are staying on the page to view our videos - all of these matter to us.

At the end of each newscast, we ask people, “What’s on your mind?” If we get a lot of people thinking, talking, sharing the news with their friends, and going to our site to learn more so they can think, talk and share some more, then we know we did what we set out to do.

How do you decide what makes the cut for the newscast?

We usually feature the biggest stories of the day. Analytics also come into play when we decide what goes into the newscast.

What assumptions are you making about the audience for the newscast? What do you assume they’re interested in?

We don’t make any assumptions. Analytics is very important to us. We look at our audience’s interests and habits and give them the news that matters to them and should matter to them.

What feedback have you had so far from your users?

We’ve received a number of positive feedback, especially from viewers outside of the Philippines. Locals appreciate the newscast because it gives them the news they missed during the day in one quick view.

What advice would you give to traditional broadcasters on how to do this?

I say, just go for it. Facebook is changing the way we connect to people. These days, it’s all about what’s convenient for me, the viewer. Every user that’s on the internet is your potential audience, and they’re not going to sit around and wait for the news to come on in their living rooms. Viewing habits are changing.

This is the perfect opportunity for us to grow our audience further - we are going where they are, connecting with them at their most convenient time, and giving them what they need at a platform where they spend much if not most of their online time.