Snapchat makes biggest move yet in becoming the new TV
Snapchat is gunning for television. More news, comedy, sports and lifestyle shows will be popping up on the app in the coming months, thanks to a new deal with Turner.
The partnership, announced Tuesday, is expected to introduce several new brands into the messaging app. Turner and Snap, together, will be developing original shows from Turner-owned TBS, Adult Swim, truTV, Great Big Story and Super Deluxe.
Bleacher Report, which has had an international edition on Snapchat Discover since the platform's launch in January 2015, will create a channel in the U.S. version of the app on Jan. 4, 2017. CNN is committing to offer more daily content on its own channel. (Mashable is a partner of Snapchat Discover, and Turner is an investor in Mashable.)
It's the latest move Snap has taken to boost high-quality, original content in the app as it prepares to go public in March. Within Live Stories and Discover, Snap sells ads so more content leads to more revenue.
Snap partners say they're hooked on the audience. Snapchat boasts more than 150 million daily active users, with 60 million in the United States and Canada. Users spend 25 to 30 minutes per day in the app, on average.
"Young people, in particular, are not always receptive of sitting through a four-hour traditional game broadcast. They’re more passionate about what Cam Newton is wearing during the press conference. Capturing those moments is what we do best," Rory Brown, president at Bleacher Report, told Mashable. "Why we’re really excited about this enhanced relationship with Snapchat is there’s a ton of overlap demo."
Bleacher Report said it reaches more than 250 million people each month across its social platforms and 80 percent of its audience is under the age of 34.
The sports site joins a massive amount of other sports-related content on the app. The NBA signed a deal to triple its amount of coverage, producing Live Stories for games and a weekly Discover channel. The NFL also creates Live Stories for every game and a Discover channel.
Additionally, Turner will produce more sports-related Live Stories, including the NCAA Men's basketball championship and the PGA Championship.
It isn't the first time Snap has partnered with a major content distributor. Viacom's Comedy Central has a Discover channel, and the company works with Snap to sell advertising. NBCUniversal created a series for E! Entertainment’s E! News, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live.
Topics Snapchat
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
