The agreement also grants Viacom the right to sell Snapchat’s US owned and operated advertising inventory, allowing it to offer even more value to television advertisers who want to add Snapchat’s popular premium video platform to the media mix. In addition, Viacom also has agreed to provide Snapchat with expanded access so it can produce live stories, covering more of Viacom's tent pole events.
“Viacom and Snapchat naturally complement each other in significant ways that make us ideal partners in both content and business development,” said Wade Davis, CFO, Viacom. “Snapchat captures young audiences on an intimate and immersive mobile video platform, while Viacom is the leader in premium long- and short-form storytelling for these same audiences. Add in Viacom’s custom marketing solutions and commitment to evolve our global mobile strategy and you’ve got a partnership that is great for both companies, for advertisers and is an evolution of the marketplace.”
On the content side of the deal, Viacom will further invest in the creation of original premium video content specifically for Snapchat Discover, reinforcing Viacom’s innovative approach and dedication to delivering fans globally the content they want wherever they want to consume it. While MTV International and Comedy Central have previously been committed to creating original content on Discover, additional resources will now be put towards the launch of an MTV US Channel and a Comedy Central International channel on the platform.
MTV’s new Snapchat Discover channel will feature a wide range of content created exclusively for the platform and updated daily. At the launch, on Tuesday 9 February, this included MTV News articles and video with design and art direction unique to Snapchat, exclusive celebrity interviews, and more. MTV is also developing additional Snapchat-native content, including brand-new original series and reinvented MTV fan-favourite franchises for the platform. More details on original programming will be announced later.
Comedy Central will launch internationally on Snapchat Discover, delivering funny content to fans globally. The new international channel will serve Snapchat users daily doses of comedy, from curated “WTF News” articles and exclusive videos with their favourite comedians to upcoming original series set to debut on Snapchat Discover in the coming year. Since its US launch in January 2015, the Comedy Central channel on Snapchat Discover has become a vibrant pipeline for Comedy Central to develop fresh comedic voices and original content. It is one of the most popular brands on the platform.
Another key element of the Viacom/Snapchat partnership will leverage Snapchat’s live stories, which are curated collections of user-submitted content covering major events and places around the world. Through the partnership, Snapchat will have unique access to cover Viacom’s one-of-a-kind, tent-pole events, such as MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs), BET Experience and MTV’s EMAs.
The deal grew organically out of a dynamic Viacom/Snapchat relationship, including many custom advertising campaigns created by in-house creative agency Viacom Velocity that ran in Snapchat Discover. This includes “break-the-internet” level of fan engagement for Viacom events covered by Snapchat Live Stories and Snapchat Discover channels launched a year ago.
