Facebook reportedly developing app for set-top TV boxes

Social-networking giant Facebook Inc. is developing a new app to bring video content and advertising to television screens in living rooms around the world, according to a WSJ report.

Citing anonymous sources familiar with Facebook's plans, the WSJ reported that company is developing a tvOS app that would allow users to watch Facebook videos and adverts on their TV screens.

Facebook executives have reportedly mulling a video-centric streaming app for the last many years, but they put the plan into action last summer. The app is still under development, and it would be more focused on video than current offerings that the company developed in partnership with set-top box firms like Roku.

Sources also claimed that the social-networking company's rumored TV app would not contain "non-video" content.

From the viewpoint of media companies, including Vox Media, Facebook's investment in original programming would likely be an excellent thing. Today, publishers are deeply dependent on advert revenue that prompts them to seek huge audiences, even at the expense of quality.

Sources failed to specify a definitive timeline for the launch of the rumored app; but if a tvOS app really materializes, it would put Facebook head-to-head against well-established media entities like YouTube.