Facebook greenlights more originals

Social media platform Facebook has ordered a pair of new original shows, as it pushed further into television programming.

Returning the Favor features Mike Rowe (Somebody’s Gotta Do it), following the motorcycle mechanic travelling the US to find people who put their community over themselves.

The second series, currently untitled, follows a family whose sons are taking the basketball world by storm.

Facebook has not specified the number of episodes or show lengths of either programme.

Social media giant Facebook’s move into original programming is developing into one of the key trends in international.

Others such as YouTube, Netflix and Amazon have already disrupted the traditional international television ecosystem. Apple is also getting into the content game.

Facebook’s plan kicked off when it hired CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen as head of global creative strategy last year.

The company then hired former MTV exec Mina Lefevre as head of development, and more recently, it emerged Facebook was planning to revive MTV series Loosely Exactly Nicole.