Meta has announced that the ‘Premieres’ communal video viewing option will be discontinued as it works to consolidate its video offerings.
As you can see in the above screenshot by user Gerry McGuire (which was shared by Matt Navarra), Meta will no longer allow users to use the ‘Premieres’ option. As of August 22nd, you will need to use a scheduled video post to schedule an upcoming broadcast. Starting a live stream to increase hype for a particular event is no longer an option.
After all, that’s not what ‘Premieres was made for.
Premieres’ primary function was to allow approved publishers to broadcast prerecorded content via what is essentially Facebook Live. The videos were tagged with the ‘Premiere’ tag instead of the usual ‘Live’ moniker but appeared on the same platform.
As described by Meta:
“When you schedule a Premiere, an announcement post is automatically added to your Page and viewers can Like, Share and comment about your upcoming video. People can also subscribe and get notifications about your upcoming video. During the Premiere, your video is broadcast live with a Premiere badge. Viewers are able to Like, Share and comment in real time. Unlike a normal Live broadcast, a Page administrator doesn’t have to be present during a Premiere broadcast.”
It allows fans to share and interact with the video content in a more social atmosphere. The ‘Premiere’ tag is used to avoid confusion, differentiating the pre-recorded video from a live broadcast.
So, it’s a live broadcast of a previously recorded video to increase engagement.
But not for much longer.
It is unclear why Meta decided to remove the option. Nonetheless, it tries to make similar premieres available as paid events. Perhaps it works better as a video-on-demand option than a dedicated feature.
It doesn’t seem to have been used a lot, so the change should be considered minimal.
