Snap Inc apparently wants in on the hottest new trend among tech companies: TV shows.
Following the lead of Amazon and Twitter, Snapchat reportedly plans to start showing vertical short films in its app. Only instead of doing all the work on its own, the company is inking deals with some of the biggest names in media.
ESPN, ABC, NFL, Vice Media and a number of other companies have signed original show deals with Snapchat in recent months. According to the report from the Wall Street journal, the shows will be 3 to 5 minutes long.
Fox and CBS are supposedly in negotiations with Snapchat too There’s no word on when the new shows will start appearing.
Rather than trying to replace TV shows, it appears that Snapchat’s strategy is to compliment existing ones. Executives at the company are allegedly working with studios to show them the best way to create original vertical videos that are perfect for smartphone viewing.
Snapchat hopes to have 2 to 3 new shows debuting every day by the end of the year. The company may make the TV shows available for 48 hours instead of 24 like normal snaps and stories.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
