Dive Brief:

• At the Digital Content NewFronts show, DigitasLBi announced it was partnering with Facebook for a live stream morning show called "Rise and Shine."
• The show will feature branded content for Facebook that will include local weather, exercise workouts and recipes, according to Adweek.
• Keenan Pridmore, head of Facebook's Creative Shop Studio, told Adweek, "It will appear in those morning wake-up hours where you are getting up, you could use a little [content] to get you going. Something to get you laughing, smiling, thinking."

Dive Insight:

This initiative comes at a time when the distinction between linear TV and online video is increasingly blurred. In a way the success, or failure, of "Rise and Shine" might be a sure signal that broadcast television is losing the battle for eyeballs.

"There's a mandate to think about building content that has a lot of value for, of course, brands but also people," Pridmore said.

In the short term marketers should view this as an experiment, but it is clearly one more move to appeal to cord cutters. It's also a clear stance on the part of Facebook to grab an audience that wants to find a morning update, but maybe not via the traditional morning local TV show.

What might be intriguing for marketers is Scott Donaton, chief content officer at DigitasLBi North America, said content will be customized for brands, telling Adweek, "… the show is going to be shapeable by whatever brand gets involved. There's no preconceived notion. It's going to be about building the show contextually."

The live stream is expected to air three times per week on sponsor brand's Facebook pages and in Messenger.