The ads will play automatically in users' news feeds and may help Facebook capture a share of the $66.4 billion that advertisers are expected to spend on U.S. television this year, the Journal said.

One of the first ads to be played will be a short tease made specifically for Facebook for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp's upcoming film "Divergent," according to the newspaper. (http://link.reuters.com/wad55v)

Facebook could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)