Facebook Now Lets You Broadcast Audio, BBC Radio Goes First
Facebook announced today it now lets you broadcast audio.
The feature came after the popularity of its Live Video formats: the regular Facebook Live and Live 360.
The social media platform noticed that there are many companies that prefer the audio only streaming.
Applications like live book reading, podcasting are just a few.
And Facebook addresses low connectivity problems by letting regular Facebook Live video broadcasters to switch to audio in areas or times when internet connection is intermittent such as bad weather.
FB will be partnering with BBC Radio to be among its first adopters.
The interface just looks like the regular Facebook Live but only with the thumbnail.
Here is Facebook Media’s full statement.
As we continue to improve the Facebook Live experience, we’ve been listening to feedback to inform the new tools and features we build. One thing we’ve heard is that partners want new formats for going live. We announced Live 360 last week, and today we’re excited to announce another way to go live on Facebook: Live Audio.
We know that sometimes publishers want to tell a story on Facebook with words and not video. We’ve even seen some Pages find creative ways to go live and reach audiences with audio only by using the Facebook Live API or by adding a still image to accompany their audio broadcast. Our new Live Audio option makes it easy to go live with audio only when that’s the broadcaster’s preferred format.
We also know that publishers sometimes go live from areas that lack strong network connectivity. Though we alert the broadcaster if their signal is low, Live Audio presents another option for connecting with audiences in real time from low-connectivity areas.
From interviews to book readings, we’re excited about the layer of interactivity that Live Audio brings to both the broadcaster and listener. Just as with a live video on Facebook, listeners can discover live audio content in News Feed, ask questions and leave reactions in real time during the broadcast, and easily share with their friends.
We know that people often like to listen to audio while doing other things; people using Android devices will be able to continue listening to a Live Audio broadcast even if they leave the Facebook app or lock their phones, while iOS listeners will be able to continue listening as they browse other parts of Facebook.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be testing Live Audio with several partners, including BBC World Service , LBC, Harper Collins, and authors Adam Grant and Brit Bennett. Early next year, we plan to make this new format more broadly available to publishers and people.
