The adoption of Facebook Live for internet news broadcasts by local television affiliates

Legacy media has long been faulted for not adjusting rapidly enough to innovations in journalism. It is notable, then, that local television stations have so rapidly adopted a new tool for streaming video of news events as they happen: Facebook Live. This paper examines the questions of why and how, utilizing a dual lens: the diffusion of innovation theory and the technology acceptance model. Interviews with digital media managers from stations of varying sizes across the U.S. show Facebook Live succeeds in all seven areas under study – relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, observability, ease of use and perceived usefulness.