Facebook Video To Be Powered By Ooyala Online Video Platform?

This much we know is true: Facebook is having some kind of big-announcement press event tomorrow. CEO Mark Zuckerburg has reportedly said it will be "awesome." And shortly after the speculation began, TechCrunch declared the announcement would be a partnership with Skype to bring video chat to Facebook. But now we're hearing serious rumors that there's an imminent announcement regarding a deal to bring Ooyala and Facebook video together.

Facebook & Skype For Video Chat - A Recap

After TechCrunch published their article about the Facebook/Skype team-up, it exploded across the media landscape, with pretty much everyone taking editor Michael Arrington at his word... This much we know is true: Facebook is having some kind of big-announcement press event tomorrow. CEO Mark Zuckerburg has reportedly said it will be "awesome." And shortly after the speculation began, TechCrunch declared the announcement would be a partnership with Skype to bring video chat to Facebook.

Is it possible he's wrong, and there is no deal with Skype? Because there are now strong rumors circulating today that Facebook will actually announce a new partnership with the Ooyala video platform to power all of Facebook video.

New Facebook & Ooyala Rumor

Dan Rayburn at Streaming Media is reporting some chatter he heard over the 4th of July weekend suggesting Facebook and Ooyala have finalized an agreement to make Ooyala the official video platform for Facebook.

That's huge. And he's not the only one we've heard that from.

Of course, it's also just a rumor at this point. We're trying hard to confirm, but for now you should treat this as speculation. But it's a juicy bit of news to speculate on, isn't it?

Facebook Two Pronged Video Announcement?

Could it be that part of the reason Zuckerburg was so anxious to declare how "awesome" the announcement would be is because it's actually two announcements? Could we be getting Skype-powered video chat AND a Ooyala-powered video platform all in one day? It's possible.

Facebook is long overdue to get with the program when it comes to video. They're a dominant social network, but they've been letting all the video companies kick their tail for years. It's hard to separate fact from rumor in the tech world, but I have a good feeling that whatever Facebook's big announcement is, it's related to video.

We'll be all over the announcement tomorrow and will fill you in as soon as we know more.