WB Offers 'Harry Potter' On Facebook

Harry-Potter

Wall Street analysts are fascinated by Netflix. Any content acquisition it makes or potential rival it faces is chronicled intensely. When Warner Bros. began making films available on Facebook earlier this month, one take was that it offered no credible threat -- in the short term.

Among the reasons offered by Goldman Sachs' Ingrid Chung was the dearth of content and lack of "wide distribution across devices that connect to the living-room TV." Still, she wrote that over time, Facebook's massive user base was something to consider.

Warner Bros. launched a pay-per-view streaming option, where Facebook credits worth about $3 can be used to make a purchase, with only "The Dark Knight" available.

On Monday, the studio made more content available (in what it is referred to as a test) by adding five more films, including two in the "Harry Potter" series and "Inception."

Viewers can stop and resume watching as they choose for 48 hours. And this being Facebook, posting comments is an option.

Thomas Gewecke, head of Warner Bros. digital distribution, stated that the added titles have "substantial followings on Facebook. The Fan Pages for 'Harry Potter' and 'Inception' alone are two of the most popular and active communities on the site."

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