Viacom strikes deal with Snapchat to boost ad revenue

Viacom, the parent company of MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon among others, has inked a deal to sell ads on Snapchat’s behalf.

The announcement was made during Viacom’s quarterly earnings call. Chairman and Chief ExecutivePhilippe Dauman revealed the media company will add more channels to Snapchat’s Discover platform, which already features titles like Vice, Daily Mail, CNN and Fox Sports. The partnership will also give Snapchat inside-access to Viacom-sponsored events like the MTV VMA and EMAs.

With Viacom as Snapchat’s salesforce, it’s clear the company believes the video messaging app is on the cusp of hitting the mainstream, with the same industry pull as Facebook. It’s also a major coup for Viacom, which saw its sales shares fall to a 52-week low on Tuesday, down 10% to US$36 a share.

Snapchat reports 100 million daily users, with the average age demographic falling between 18 and 24 – a similar target audience to many of Viacom’s platforms like MTV, Comedy Central and Black Entertainment Television(BET).

The launch of the multi-year partnership today gives Viacom the rights to sell Snapchat’s US owned and operated ad inventory, including its ongoing Stories and Live Stories content. Meaning, it won’t be selling ads for Discover or Live Stories that are already linked to an existing deal with another media company, or for Live Stories outside the US.

Viacom already posts content from its Comedy Central and MTV International platforms on Snapchat Discover, and its in-house creative agency Viacom Velocity already runs campaigns on the feature, but now it is adding further resources and investment with the launch of a MTV US Channel and a Comedy Central International channel on the platform.

Viacom CFO Wade Davis said: “Snapchat captures young audiences on an intimate and immersive mobile video platform while Viacom is the leader in premium long- and short-form storytelling for these same audiences. Add in Viacom’s custom marketing solutions and commitment to evolve our global mobile strategy and you’ve got a partnership that is great for both companies, for advertisers, and is a real evolution of the marketplace.”

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegelhas so far avoided posting banner ads, however he made history when Snapchat became the first major app to sell both full-screen, vertically oriented video ads and animated ads that can be laid overtop of photos.

Imran Khan, Snapchat’s Chief Strategy Officer said: “Through this partnership with Viacom, we can now offer television advertisers a way to tell their stories across television and mobile in a frictionless way.”