The X Factor to premiere on Facebook before TV

Touted as an Australian first, Seven Network is giving Facebook users a first look at The X Factor ahead of its 7pm season premiere on Sunday.

The first episode will become available on Thursday as “a targeted, limited release to Facebook users, available for a short window of time” optimised for delivery over mobile networks.

There are no further details on what time the episode will become available and for how long it will posted.

Facebook has 11 million Australian users who click on daily, 9.6 million of whom do so on mobile, according to Facebook's Australian Head of Technology, Communications and Content, Jason Juma-Ross.

Creating social media juice before the show airs on traditional TV seems a savvy move. It will be interesting to see how it affects the show’s return ratings. Last year, its season premiere drew 1.226 million.

Clive Dickens, Chief Digital Officer, Seven West Media, said: “Big, live event TV and social go hand in hand and we thrilled to work with our friends at GSK, Fremantle Media and Facebook on this true Australian media first.

“Television is rapidly evolving and at Seven we are accelerating our innovation to exceed the expectations of our audiences and partners.”

Kurt Burnette, Chief Revenue Officer, Seven West Media, added: “TV influences social conversation every week. This promote first on Facebook initiative will combine the scale of Seven’s audience and brand with the one-to-one connection that Facebook can bring. The two working together should help us better understand audience feedback for the benefit of advertisers and add to our overall audience sampling. Test and learn is an important part of our sales strategies.”

Like this year’s The Voice, The X Factor has been given a format tweek and has a higher production budget as recent ratings have slid. It worked for The Voice in 2015. The new judging panel of Guy Sebastian, Dannii Minogue, James Blunt and Chris Isaak is the first of the changes.

First screened in Australia in 2005, initially on the Ten Network, The X Factor has launched the careers of Dami Im, Samantha Jade, Nathaniel Willemse, Recce Mastin, Johnny Ruffo, Taylor Henderson, Dean Ray, Brothers 3 and Jason Owen.