Snap, Inc. Expects Original Scripted Content to Be Released on Snapchat By the End the Year

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Snap, Inc. (NYSE:$SNAP) has had a rough few months since its initial public offering in March of this year. The company struggled as the Facebook (NASDAQ:$FB)-owned Instagram rose above and beyond with its new Instagram stories feature. The feature is similar – if not almost exactly the same – the service Snap, Inc.’s popular social media app, Snapchat offers. Now, Snap is looking for ways to get back ahead in the fierce competition of the online media industry. As such, the company has announced that it is planning to release scripted content through Snapchat.

Nick Bell, Snap’s VP of Content, is leading said efforts. On Wednesday, Bell talked about the company’s plan to produce mobile-first TV during the Edinburgh TV Festival. During his talk, Bell revealed that the company will be launching some scripted content to its app by the end of this year. Bell was adamant that Snap does not expect this venture to be a replacement to traditional television, believing that television is the best way to watch a great show. Instead, he said, Snap is only looking for ways to complement TV with mobile. “We want to be friends of media,” Bell explained.

One of Snap’s strategies to connect TV and mobile is to optimize popular pre-existing TV programs. After all, Bell said, data has shown that Snapchat can help increase TV engagement. For example, TV shows like The Bachelor have reported an audience engagement increase of 15% thanks to Snapchat-related content. Bell hopes to expand on this.

Scripted content specifically meant for Snapchat is hopefully Snap’s next step. “Scripted is expensive, and we want to make sure that we understand that as much as we can before we jump into that world with two feet,” Bell explained. But he thinks that by the end of the year, Snap will be able to distribute some of its own scripted content. “I love the idea of doing a daily soap like Coronation Street…. Or a sitcom like Friends or an animation like Simpsons,” Bell said when inquired about what kind of content he’d like to see Snap produce. He is careful about the expectations, though, stating that the mobile content will most likely be pretty different from traditional TV.

“We see mobile as being fundamentally a new medium,” Bell explained. “Snapchat is creating a new mobile language.”

Despite Bell’s obvious excitement for the project, many still hold concern that Snap’s venture into original content won’t hold up in the face of Facebook Watch, the new feature Facebook is planning to release scripted content as well. However, Bell had put some of these concerns to rest, explaining that Facebook is more in competition with YouTube more than anything else. “Their roster of programming and format is very different to us,” he assured. “We are mobile-only.”

It looks like Snap is off to a good start, too. Already it’s made deals with a number of entertainment companies and celebrities to create some original content for Snapchat’s Discovery feature. For example, James Corden had signed on to do a Snapchat show named James Corden’s Next Corden  just earlier this year. The company has also made a $100 million deal with Time Warner (NYSE:$TWX) for the giant film and media company to produce Snapchat-exclusive shows. The deal states that Time Warner will make about 10 of these exclusive shows annually. Other big-name entertainment companies like NBCUniversal, A+E Networks, Walt Disney, and the BBC have already made content deals with Snap as well.

Bell also says that once the Snap-exclusive original content is launched, he sees the company having a more prominent role in the world of intellectual property. He added that he believes Snap will be able to sell related fan-merchandise if it does join the vast field of intellectual property.

Snap is hoping that this Snapchat-exclusive content will be able to reach as much as 15 million people per episode.

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About the author: Grace is currently studying at UBC to achieve her BA in Computer Science. She is due to graduate in 2020. As a content creator, Grace has written financial analysis, stock market news, and informational investing articles. She also worked as an editor with her university publication 'UBC Undergraduate Journal of Art History'.