This live-streaming trend (see: Meerkat and Periscope) on social networks is no fluke.
At SXSW this Sunday, Turner Sports will be hosting an event from a special ‘NCAA March Madness Bracket Lounge’ to celebrate the start of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
In a first, Turner and Facebook will partner to stream ‘NCAA March Madness Bracket Lounge Live’ at 7pm EST, following CBS’s official selection show. The Facebook show will be streamed on the NCAA March Madness Facebook page and hosts Matt Winer, Rick Fox, and Damaris Lewis, will gather bracket reaction from fans both on-site and via the Facebook page.
In October, HBO partnered with Facebook to livestream a Foo Fighters concert, and there is a good chance that Facebook is testing smaller streams before pursuing more mainstream events. ‘HBO NOW’ is exclusive to Apple for three months, but there’s no reason why they wouldn’t strike a deal with Facebook to make the app available via the HBO page; and, Facebook may be livestreaming the bracket lounge now, but are we really that far away from being able to turn to the platform as another (and perhaps primary) TV Everywhere solution?