What happened
Shares of LiveXLive Media (LIVX +5.35%) were soaring 15% in afternoon trading Wednesday after the music streaming platform announced it was launching a number of pay-per-view programs on Facebook's (FB 3.77%) new paid online event feature.
The programs will consist of comedy shows, sports, and podcasts, and will be marketed globally.
So what
Although COVID-19 vaccinations will allow people to resume normal activities soon enough, many venues appear reluctant to hold events that are open to large swaths of the public.
Image source: Getty Images.
Virtual attendance has become a popular substitute to live events during the pandemic, and LiveXLive has proven to be a popular service to access them. On Monday, JMP Securities raised its price target on the stock as it expects the media stock to be able to tap into the latent demand for such shows.
Now what
Facebook launched paid online events last August with the promise it would enable businesses to monetize their online events, creating, marketing, signing up attendees, and collecting fees all in one place.
This could give LiveXLive a new avenue to reach a broad audience for its events as its says Facebook "will be working closely" with it. The social networking site's director of sports league and media partnerships, Rob Shaw, noted the growth paid online events is seeing in the sports world and said, "We're excited for LiveXLive to lean into the feature and continue to build a business on our platform."
