IBC 2011- AMSTERDAM. Although Facebook is working increasingly with broadcasters, it has no intention of becoming a content creator, according to Joanna Shields, the company’s VP and MD EMEA.
Shields cited a number of examples of cooperation, including the recent production of a VOD app for France’s TF1, a BBC app for Dr Who and with Italy’s Mediaset for the channel Italia 2.
Earlier this year it also worked with Fox in the US on the Super Bowl.
Facebook is also working with a number of production companies including Miramax, for which it has created an app for the 20 best movies of all time, and Endemol, where it has produced an app for Big Brother.
Shields dismissed recent reports in the UK press that Facebook is losing customers in more mature markets, saying instead that its rate of growth there is slowing down.
She also said the company was “humbled” that the way Facebook had been used to communicate the Arab Spring, though at the same time stressing it was merely a platform.
When questioned as to her worries going forward, Shields said that one was that the company might “miss something” in a fast-moving market; that a rival business with scale may do what Facebook does; and expectations of monetising been very high.
Asked about Facebook “credits”, she said that the model now is for virtual goods and the company has not yet decided on how to evolve it.
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Digital TV Eastern Europe NEW REPORT by Simon Murray of Digital TV Research. 2012 is a watershed year for Eastern Europe as the number of digital homes for 15 forecast countries will exceed the analogue total for the first time. This electronically-delivered,150-page report comes in three parts, a PDF file and two Excel workbooks. Countries covered include Russia and Ukraine.