Facebook is looking TV-style shows and is willing to pay for them, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ reported the Palo Alto-based company is looking for original programming in a variety of topics including sports, pop culture, science, lifestyle, gaming, and teen content. The company has signaled it is willing to pay low-to-mid six figures per episode, which can run up to 30 minutes each. However, it is shying away from hard news content, a pivot from its previous video strategy.
Facebook has been pushing for more video in order to meet growing advertiser demand. The initiative is led by Ricky Van Veen, who is best known as the founder of College Humor.
It recently introduced a Facebook Video app so users can watch its content on their TVs, as well as added the option for ads in between livestreamed content. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he saw video as a "mega trend" on the company's latest earnings call.
However, Facebook faces stiff competition for premium content from companies like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Netflix said it plans to spend $6 billion on content this year. Amazon said it doubled spending on video last year, as well tripled investment in original content.
Facebook told CNBC it had no comment on the WSJ report.
Note: NBCUniversal, which is the parent company of CNBC, is a co-owner of Hulu.