Discovery Communications has taken a minority stake in VS Media. The media company will tap into content from Discovery Digital Networks (DDN), which produces and distributes digital-native programming appealing to millennial audiences across platforms globally.
The DDN content will be locally branded, customised and curated for VS ME.
Further boosting engagement with the global Chinese-speaking communities, Discovery will lend its expertise in developing IPs and content.
Founded in 2013 by media entrepreneur Ivy Wong, the media company has recruited more than 500 creators. It empowers creators by providing production facilities and funding, offering direction and support for cross-marketing, social media and search optimisation to enable monetisation opportunities.
Arthur Bastings, president and managing director of Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said as the company looks to build deeper traction in the Chinese-speaking markets, the investment can help Discovery to get fully plugged into the Chinese millennial zeitgeist.
“This group of digital natives is the most mobile-connected generation in history with a huge thirst for online content. Discovery’s great track record in innovative and immersive storytelling, coupled with VS Media’s cutting-edge community, presents a creative and unique content ecosystem to meet this ever-growing demand,” Bastings added.
Ivy Wong, founder of VS Media said, “This partnership is a significant milestone in our company’s evolution. We believe that everyone can be an influencer as well as a digital entrepreneur.”
Through recent investments, the media company is setting up a US$4 million content development fund which will be used to collaborate with creators to produce local formats.
