Original Programming is Set to Make a Big Splash on Social Media

Snapchat and Facebook are battling, again

With the recent announcement that Snapchat is diving into more original news programming in partnership with NBC, we’re seeing more and more investment dollars being put into custom content. Don’t expect that to slow down anytime soon.

NBC has hired 30 new staff members to run the twice daily (at 7 AM and 4 PM on weekdays, 1 PM on weekends) news program titled, “Stay Tuned.” The show is a part of a new investment into original programming on the platform, after seeing recent success in their other major news-style show, “Good Luck America.” That show has seen over 5 million viewers per episode, and it’s caught the attention of big name corporations like NBC.

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, recently saw its stock price hit half of its all time high. To rebound, it needs to show both user and revenue growth. With this venture, the company is looking to create content that keeps users on the platform longer and brings in some advertising dollars at the same time.

This comes on the heels of rumors that Facebook is also making similar investments into original content. The social media giant recently hired CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Zeen, who heads a team in charge of finding both short and long format episodic shows.

One show already said to be green-lit is a dating show done in partnership with Conde Nast Entertainment, where contestants go on first dates in Virtual Reality before meeting in real life and trying the real thing.

What does this mean for advertisers?

Mid-roll ad slots — and lots of them — are coming.

Another giant name in the video space, YouTube, has also inked plenty of original content deals in 2017. Celebrities like Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kevin Hart will all star in shows that air on their ad-supported service (as opposed to their subscription based service, YouTube Red).

This all goes against recent trends away from ad-supported videos. “Five years ago, 85 percent of all original series were ad-supported,” Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s business chief, said recently. “This year, that number has fallen to just over two-thirds. And with significantly more content coming to subscription services, that shift is accelerating.”

We’ll wait and see if these investments made together by social media companies, traditional media, and advertisers can buck the trend.

Thanks for reading!

–Justin