In an endorsement of the social media platform's video push, Discovery Communications is to develop premium mid-form shows for the Watch platform on Facebook.

Launched in mid-August, Watch is available on mobile, on desktop and laptop, and in TV apps, will house another new feature, called Shows. Content creators can create sets of live or recorded episodes that follow a theme or storyline.
Discovery will offer shows both from its library and also properties created exclusively for Facebook. The first Discovery show to launch on Watch is Animal Planet’s Celebrity Animal Encounters, which will be available soon. Investigation Discovery’s Still a Mystery and TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress Spinoff will launch on Watch in the autumn, followed by shows from additional Discovery networks.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Facebook because the new Watch platform shares our commitment to engage passionate fans and create communities through video,” said Discovery Communications chief commercial officer Paul Guyardo. “This is also another example of our commitment to delivering compelling, original content to superfans across all platforms.”