Snap inked multi-year deals for custom short-form content with Disney, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League. It released plans for original content including unscripted series, docuseries, and scripted dramas and comedies. In partnership with The Washington Post, Bloomberg and ESPN, Snap will produce “Happening Now,” a breaking news feature. It also revealed that 170+ million people use its augmented-reality tools daily, moving the technology into the mainstream. Continue reading Snap Expands AR Toolset, Announces Deals for New Content

Following new shows from CNN and NBC News debuting on Snapchat, ESPN will introduce its first episode of “SportsCenter” on the social platform at 5:00 pm Eastern today, hosted by Katie Nolan (formerly of Fox Sports). Starting tomorrow, three- to five-minute episodes of the popular ESPN show will air at 5:00 am and 5:00 pm on weekdays and 5:00 am on weekends. Additional episodes will be reserved for breaking news. The Snapchat version of the show will be hosted by Nolan, sports anchor Elle Duncan, NBA commentator Cassidy Hubbarth, ESPN Radio’s Jason Fitz, reporter Jac Collinsworth and comedian Cy Amundson. Continue reading ESPN Delivers Twice-Daily ‘SportsCenter’ Show on Snapchat

NBCUniversal and Snap plan to open a production studio to create original content for mobile devices. Mark and Jay Duplass, who formed creative agency Donut to produce programming for new platforms, will be the first creators for the studio. NBC News already produces “Stay Tuned,” a twice-daily newscast distributed on Snapchat, which drew 29 million unique viewers in its first month. Former NBC Entertainment executive Lauren Anderson will head the new NBCUniversal-Snap studio, to be based in Santa Monica. Continue reading NBCUniversal, Snap to Open New Studio for Mobile Content

Disney-ABC Television Group has signed an agreement with Snapchat to produce several original shows for the social media platform. The first production will be “Watch Party: The Bachelor,” an aftershow for ABC’s “The Bachelor” that will debut Jan. 3, the day after the premiere of that reality dating show’s 21st season. The original episodes will run three to five minutes each and be available for 24 hours on Snapchat, appearing in the Discover section. The season finale will be produced as a Snapchat Live Story. Continue reading Disney-ABC to Produce Short Form Video Series for Snapchat