Snap (the parent company of Snapchat) has announced new partnerships with six of Australia’s most well-known content houses and lifestyle programmers, including Banijay, LADbible Australia, Little Dot Studios, Pedestrian.tv, Tastemade and Totem Network, that will bring new shows and TV series such as Masterchef Australia and Bondi Rescue reimagined for the mobile screen on Snapchat Discover.
Globally, Snapchat has launched a record of 490 new channels this year, resulting in nearly a 70% increase in user’s time spent watching Shows. 25 channels have a monthly audience of more than 20 million viewers each, while over 75 million Snapchatters watch beauty-related content and 85 million watch sport content each month on Discover.
With Snapchat reaching 90% of 13-24 year olds and 75% of 13-34 year olds in Australia, the partnerships with local studios will see some of Australia’s most prolific TV series, as well as popular digital first formats, reach and engage a young Australian and global audience on Snapchat.
Snap’s general manager for APAC, Kathryn Carter, said: “It’s great to be partnering with so many fantastic brands to expand Snapchat Discover here in Australia. We pioneered vertical video, and so already our audience are used to and expect high quality, engaging, made-for-mobile content about the topics they care about the most. We’re confident these new shows will resonate with our audience both in Australia and with Aussies all over the world. We’re excited to continue expanding the variety of locally relevant content from iconic brands for our community to enjoy.”
Shaun Keeble, VP Digital, Banijay Rights, said: “Banijay couldn’t be more excited to extend its global partnership with Snap with the addition of the first channel for Snap Australia. The MasterChef channel will showcase the best and most memorable moments from this global cookery hit – an Endemol Shine Australia (part of Banijay) production for Network 10 Australia. We’re thrilled this show will now excite a whole new generation of younger viewers on this most innovative of social platforms.”
CEO of Totem Network, Steve Crombie, said: “It’s important for Totem and our partners to stay ahead of the game and find new ways to grow and monetise audiences. Snap pioneered vertical video – their online editing tools are cutting edge, and they make awesome original content. Being a publishing partner means we get to create and share unique Australian content for shows like Bondi Rescue, Black As and Bondi Nation with a young, hungry and engaged global audience; and develop a completely new revenue stream for our partners. We’re excited to be working with Snap and look forward to working on more Australian shows with them in the near future.”
Shahn Devendran, head of originals, LADbible Australia, said: “We’re excited about the partnership with Snapchat as it’s focused on connecting with people in new and innovative ways. Our owned video garners over a billion views each month, so partnering with Snap on our Original series ensures that we’re able to continue to provide the widest possible audience with an opportunity to laugh, think and act – which is the heart of the LADbible brand.”
James McManus, creative director at Pedestrian Group: “As Australia’s house of pop culture, we’re excited to bring Pedestrian.tv to the Snap audience in the form of our nosy show UNLOCKED – inviting your fave celebs to hand over their phones and reveal things like what they’re texting their mates, and how many selfies they really take on the daily. We look forward to potentially extending this partnership across our other brands within the Pedestrian Group, many of whom like VICE and Refinery29 have already had great success globally with Snap.”