SNAP Snap Inc

By Micah Maidenberg 

Snap Inc. is getting deeper into the crowded scripted-show market, teaming up with companies like Viacom and NBCUniversal on original content.

The social-media company is launching its Snap Originals initiative as it struggles to compete with Facebook Inc. and Facebook's Instagram app, which has gained popularity in part by adopting some of Snap's ideas. Instagram, meanwhile, is seeking to stake out a dominant position in longer-form mobile video, announcing in June it would create a new hub for that format called IGTV.

Snap has struck deals to generate scripted shows in the past, including a $100 million deal in 2017 with Time Warner Inc.'s Turner cable channels and the Warner Bros. studio.

Several television and film producers have agreed to produce Snap Originals.

Viacom committed to creating 10 new shows, according to Snap. It also agreed to syndicate a minimum of 500 episodes of its networks' shows to the Snapchat audience.

NBCUniversal developed one of the six shows included in the initial Snap Originals slate, and also agreed to extend a a content-production commitment with Snap through 2019. The social-media company and NBCUniversal struck a deal in 2017 to team up to produce content.

Snap Originals shows will offer episodes that last about five minutes. Companies can purchase six-second ads within them.

"Over the last two years, our highly engaged and loyal audience has helped to define what mobile content should look like -- vertical, hyper-visual and paced in a way that draws you in quickly and makes you want to return," Nick Bell, vice president of content at Snap, said in a statement.

The initial slate of Snap Originals includes "Endless Summer," which follows two online influencers living in Laguna Beach, Calif., and "The Dead Girls Detective Agency," described by the social-media company as a "darkly comedic supernatural soap opera." Users will be able to watch the show via the Snapchat mobile app.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 10, 2018 09:52 ET (13:52 GMT)

Snap (NYSE:SNAP)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mar 2024 até Abr 2024

Snap (NYSE:SNAP)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Abr 2023 até Abr 2024