NBCUniversal News Group has acquired nearly 10 percent stake in startup NowThis News that will help it produce short videos as brief as six seconds. The short-form news videos will be produced with an intention to distribute across mobile and social platforms.
The partnership between NBCUniversal News Group, one of the most influential news portfolios and NowThis News, a startup that creates short-form news segments was announced Sunday night.
NowThis News was founded in 2012 by former Huffington Post CEO Eric Hippeau and cofounder and former chairman Kenneth Lerer. The startup has also partnered with a number of other media outlets that include The Atlantic, Slate, BuzzFeed and Mashable. However, NBC will be the first major news agency to make an investment that represents a major commitment.
"We know that news consumption among younger audiences continues to grow, but in order to reach that audience, we need to continue to create video for the platforms they use most," said Patricia Fili-Krushel, chairman of the NBCUniversal News Group. "NowThis News does exactly that - delivering relevant news stories for the mobile and social platforms that resonate with this audience."
Per the deal, NowThis News journalists will have access to the network's extensive archival footage and a couple of NBC producers. NBC in return will use the startup's video on its various networks and shows.
"It allows them to experiment in this new medium without putting their legacy brand at risk," Lerer said. The investment in NowThis News is the latest in the series of other deals that NBC has been bagging lately. Earlier this month, it announced its partnership with Re/Code, the technology website started by AllThingsD's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. Last year, the company also acquired Stringwire, a startup that hires video contributors around the globe.
