Condé Nast plans to expand its OTT distribution with a dedicated channel for Wired, scheduled to launch later this year, followed next year by channels for Bon Appétit and GQ.
The newly launched channels will be available on AppleTV, Roku and Amazon Fire. Additionally, the company unveiled more than 60 new digital video pilots in production, as. well as new series for Snapchat.
“While consumers have more screens and more content to choose from than ever before, advertisers face the challenge of less buyable options,” said Pamela Drucker Mann, chief revenue and marketing officer of Condé Nast.
“Condé Nast has the engagement, brand safety and influence that make us the most impactful buyable solution in the industry. And our new OTT expansion is significant because it brings the quality of Condé Nast to next gen consumers on new platforms, and in new ways.”
“Digital platforms are how next gen audiences are consuming content, but we are the what, and currently positioned at No. 17 in comScore’s top 100 video properties, Condé Nast is the new primetime for a new generation,” said Dawn Ostroff, president of Condé Nast Entertainment.
“And with 35 blockbuster series and more than 60 new pilots, we are programming every platform consumers use today––from our O&Os, OTT and YouTube to social and syndication, we have created a video network that is popular among millennial and Gen Z audiences, and has surpassed all of our competitors.”
Condé Nast said its digital videos garnered 12 billion views in 2017 and continue to grow viewership, with a record-breaking first quarter in 2018 with global video views up across all platforms 77% from last year.
Condé Nast announced 35 returning blockbuster series and 60 new pilots already in the works for 2018. Using real-time viewer data to drive its development and scheduling decisions, the company has already launched several series this year that became viral hits instantly, including Lie Detector for Vanity Fair, which garnered more than 10 million views for its premiere episode.
On emerging platforms, the company announced that the first three episodes of its Snapchat Show True Crime/Uncovered were fully sponsored and generated over 10 million viewers worldwide.
The company is producing three more episodes for season one and announced that Snapchat has already renewed the show for a second season. In addition, Condé Nast has partnered with Snapchat to reimagine four of its biggest blockbuster series with a feel and tone that is distinctively Snap.
Condé Nast also announced that it is expanding its partnership with Google’s VR platform Daydream to produce additional episodes of its Closets series. The programmes will span multiple Condé Nast brands and will explore other amazing spaces, including kitchens, bathrooms and rare collections. In addition, the two companies have several other series in development for the Daydream platform in a variety of categories, including beauty and tech.
