Viacom and Snapchat have announced a global partnership.
The wide-ranging deal, anchored in both content production and advertising sales, will bring two channels to Snapchat Discover – a Comedy Central International channel and an MTV Channel in the US, which will complement the Comedy Central and MTV International Discover channels. Comedy Central is launching internationally today on Snapchat Discover (Wednesday, February 10).
The agreement also grants Viacom the right to sell Snapchat’s US owned and operated advertising inventory, allowing television advertisers to add Snapchat’s premium video platform to the media mix. In addition, Viacom also has agreed to provide Snapchat with expanded access so Snapchat 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 a real evolution of the marketplace.”
In addition to selling its advertising alongside its own content on Snapchat Discover, Viacom will now also have the right to sell Snapchat’s US owned and operated ad inventory, which includes ads in ongoing Stories such as New York, capturing daily happenings in New York City, and non-partnered holiday Live Stories, such as Valentine’s Day. Viacom is the only television company to have this arrangement with Snapchat.
“Snapchat provides the best storytelling experience on mobile. Through this partnership with Viacom, we can now offer television advertisers a way to tell their stories across television and mobile in a frictionless way,” said Imran Khan, Snapchat’s chief strategy officer.
