Facebook launches Ambient TV Experience

One of the challenges with live streaming content to date has been the waiting room phenomena. A publisher like LifeHacker, or Cheddar*, starts a live stream… and then puts up a countdown timer to wait for people to join the stream. This is a solution to solve their problem as a producer, not my problem as a consumer. I got the notification. I’m here! Importantly, due to the less than delightful user experience, and my own ADD, I often click off and don’t have the patience to wait for the content.

Looks like Facebook has now changed that.

With picture-in-picture-in-stream, I’m happy to leave the live video box in the corner, keeping me engaged in more content in my feed, and not closing the app. Also, more people will enjoy live content and not click away. Producers of content will also see more viewers and engagement.

A win for consumers. A win for producers of content. A win for Facebook.

• Cheddar is a Lightspeed portfolio company