Facebook Opens Live Streaming Video To Brands With Verified Pages

Facebook is finally giving brands the ability to stream live video.

Today, the social network announced that verified Pages will now be able to publish live video from the Facebook iOS app. Facebook launched its live stream feature, called Live, in August, limiting access to celebrities and public figures, and has been incrementally extending access to new groups since. The slow-building strategy is a contrast to Twitter’s Periscope, which was available to anyone when it launched last spring.

Now, Facebook is moving closer to being a full-fledged Periscope competitor. Earlier this month, it started a test to give access to a set of iOS users, and today it’s opening the floodgates for brands and businesses with verified Pages.

Verified Pages can launch live events from within the iOS app by navigating to the Page, tapping “publish” and selecting “live video.” During the broadcast, publishers are able to see the number of viewers, the names of other verified people or Pages tuning in and a real-time stream of comments. Like any video posted on Facebook, the Live event will be published on your Timeline so people can watch later.

Video distribution happens the way it does for any other Facebook post. People who like a Page might see the post in their News Feeds or receive notifications. Live videos include a “subscribe” button that when clicked or tapped will enable notifications any time a Page launches a live event. For tips on how to manage live events, Facebook has published a best-practices hub.

Over the last few months, Facebook has given access to a handful of verified Pages. Here are examples from “The Tonight Show” and U2:

Postscript: The headline and lead on an earlier version of this post indicated that verified business Pages had access to live video streaming. In fact, only brand and publisher Pages verified with a blue check mark have access. Local business Pages with a gray check mark do not have access.