Time Warner, Snap sign $100 mn content partnership

In what could revive the future of Snap Inc, parent company of popular photo-sharing app Snapchat, cable television company Time Warner has announced to produce shows for the social media platform as part of a two-year deal valued at $100 million.

Snap will take 50 per cent of the ad revenue generated by these shows and the content partners will keep the other half, USA Today reported late on Monday.

Snap's stock rose 2 per cent soon after the announcement, pushing it about a dollar above its IPO price of $17.

Time Warner will also invest in ads from its properties like HBO, Turner and Warner Bros on Snapchat.

"Partnering with Snap will help drive this compelling new format, exposing its user base to innovative and engaging video from brands and characters they trust and enjoy," the report quoted Gary Ginsberg, an executive from Time Warner, as saying.

The newly created shows will include different genres, including scripted drama, daily news shows, documentaries and comedy.

The shows will run three-five minutes in a vertical format and will be similar to those already released by other networks on Snapchat.

As part of the deal, three new shows of different genres will be aired per day on Snapchat.

"While these new shows will definitely tempt users to spend more time watching content in the Snapchat app, they likely won't create the buzz that the social network needs to convince users that Snapchat is the best place to watch new content," TechCrunch reported.

Started in 2011, Snapchat became a public-listed company earlier this year. The platform has currently more than 150 million daily users.

Facebook, Snapchat's arch rival, is also making a debut in premium television and developing around 24 shows.

--IANS

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