If you're already addicted to watching the news on your phone, you have yet another reason to keep tuning in. Today, NBC is launching a twice-daily news show called Stay Tuned on Snapchat's Discover platform.
Although several TV networks and entertainment studios already have Snapchat Shows, this is the first daily news program on the platform, as well as the first one to air twice a (week)day, according to a statement from Snap Inc. It will air every weekday at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., and at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Stay Tuned is hosted by NBC News and MSNBC News correspondents Gadi Schwartz and Savannah Sellers, and covers international news, politics, pop culture, and more. The team of about 30 production staff is led by Andrew Springer, the network's director of social media strategy, who formerly worked in similar roles at Mashable and ABC News.
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This isn't NBCUniversal's first foray into Snap culture: It was actually the first major media outlet to develop and produce shows for the social media app. Last August, it launched The Voice on the platform, which just received the first Emmy nomination for a Snapchat Show, ever.
As more and more of Gen Z uses this medium to get the news, Snapchat's offerings are naturally going to continue to expand. Currently, users can get their news fix through Good Luck America (Snapchat's in-house news show), as well as stories produced by CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, NowThis News, Vice, and The National Geographic. Lifestyle publications like Cosmo are on there, too.
Snapchat Shows were introduced in August 2016, and the company considers them a whole new medium; more of an extension of traditional TV than a replacement for it. "They are hyper-visual, featuring motion graphics, split screens, quick cuts, and more, inspired by the expressive communication we see Snapchatters using to talk to their closest friends," says the statement.
Snapchat plans to expand its Show offerings by the end of this year. Currently, it airs about one per day, but by the end of the year it plans to air three, as well as introduce more different formats, including animation, scripted drama, and comedies.
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