Ooyala Now Allows Publishers To Sell And Rent Premium Video On Facebook

Video publishing platform Ooyala is adding a social component to its videos today with the launch of Ooyala Social, a new HD-quality Social TV experience that brings video sharing and and viewing to Facebook.

Ooyala specializes in hosting videos for large corporate and media clients, such as the Telegraph Media Group, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Dell, General Mills, ESPN and TechCrunch. Now these content owners can use Ooyala Social to make premium on-demand and live video available on Facebook via rentals, subscriptions, purchases, and and more.

There are a number of features of the platform, including the ability to allow for group-activated “screenings,” allowing a certain number of people on Facebook to unlock a viewing experience. And users can share what they’re watching “Like” a video or “loan” a show for later viewing. Viewers can also chat together through a movie or show.

Part of the Ooyala Social allows for mulit-screen and device access and users can buy or rent videos with Facebook Credits, PayPal, a credit card or their mobile phone number. Content may be rented, subscribed to, or purchased outright.

There’s no doubt that Facebook has become a major destination for discovering online video. Ooyala’s move to Facebook makes sense as more premium content publishers look to bring video to the social platform, Warner Brothers is dabbling its toes into the Facebook stream with movie rentals, and Netflix is also preparing for a deeper integration with Facebook (though there are some challenges to this).