NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast, has made an strategic investment of $500 million into Snap as part of yesterday’s IPO. The company announced the same today, becoming the only media company in the US to have an official stake in the tech company.
NBCU’s interest in Snap particularly special. The company has been putting in money into digital media properties for almost a year now and has some kind of interests in Buzzfeed, Vox, SportsEngine and Awesomeness TV. Indeed, it is estimated that the company could have spent over $1.5 Billion in its endeavors to obtain a solid foothold in digital media.
Meanwhile, the investment could have a bevy of benefits of Snap, even without considering the financial aspect. For example, Snap hasn’t really been able to get users all that much interested in Discover. This is because the company hasn’t really been able to get that much content into the stream in the first place. Unlike Facebook, publishers must verify and create news specifically in order for it to be published on the stream.’
This does limit the amount of content available on the platform bu, it also ensures that unlike Facebook, the content that is available is mostly verified. The fact that NBCU has come on-board though, could bring about changes in Snap’s content strategy. The two have already worked together in the past and may come up with ways
Speaking on the topic to his employees through an internal memo, NBCU CEO Steve Burke said:
Looking forward, we will continue to be aggressive as digital content consumption increases. Investing in Snap is a key step in that direction, and I am pleased to share this exciting news with you. It is rare to have the opportunity to invest at this stage in a company as visionary and dynamic as Snap, and it is a compliment that they chose NBCU as a partner.
NBCU’s partnerships with Snap have generated good results in the past, with Rio Olympics alone generating over two billion views. The company’s entertainment programs have been among the first to launch Snapchat series, including The Voice, SNL, The Rundown etc. The company expects to launch more Snapchat shows with additional NBCU brands in the upcoming weeks.
