Snapchat wants to be the future of distribution for TV
Snapchat wants to be the future of distribution for premium TV content. They are currently working with eleven media companies for Discover, including CNN, Food Network, Comedy Central and ESPN . They're also hiring journalists to cover the election and have editors who decide what makes it into a city's daily Story.
Bloomberg's Brad Stone and Sarah Frier recently released their cover story with Snapchat CEO and Cofounder Evan Spiegel. The detailed and rare interview paints a picture of a smart, confident and direct 24-year old who has built a company with over 300 employees, 100 million users and a valuation of over $15 billion.
The piece reveals not only how much Spiegel cares about advertising, TV's billion dollar best friend (he even recently went sales pitches in LA, New York in London and presented himself) but reaffirms his devotion to editorially driven content with brands. Unlike Google, Facebook and others he explained that, "I really haven’t seen data deliver the results that I’ve seen a great editor deliver."
His belief on editorialized content with brands and the fact that he says there will never be ads in private one-to-one messages paints Snapchat as a company that looks and acts like a TV network of the future. Bloomberg's piece quotes Chamath Palihapitiya an investor (not in Snapchat) who used to be at Facebook and said, "at worst, they are the next-generation MTV. At best, they are the next-generation Viacom.”
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