Snap continues to plow money into original shows for Snapchat, which it says draws audiences of millions — and millions of repeat viewers — among its millennial and Gen Z user base.

On Tuesday, the mobile messaging and media company announced a slate of eight new Snap Originals. Those include documentary series on controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine (from Complex Networks) and transgender beauty icon Nikita Dragun (Sirens Media) as well as “Everything’s Fine,” a scripted comedy about a bipolar college student from Paul Feig’s Powderkeg that features music by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. The shows will begin airing this fall on Snapchat’s Discover page.

Snap also announced renewals of three serialized originals for second seasons: “Bringing Up Bhabie,” a docu-series about rapper Bhad Bhabie from Invent TV (premiering winter 2020); scripted drama “Two Sides” from Whistle’s New Form (spring 2020); and scripted comedy “Kappa Crypto” from Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts, Snap’s joint venture studio with NBCUniversal (spring 2020).

In addition, Snapchat Original “The Dead Girls Detective Agency,” based on the YA novel of the same name, returns this fall for Season 4. The series is produced by Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts, Insurrection Media and Keshet Studios.

With the new slate, Snapchat is delving into new formats it hasn’t tried before, said Sean Mills, Snap’s head of content. The new series span a range of genres, including character-driven docu-series, unscripted shows, and serialized scripted dramas, thrillers, and comedies.

“While we have been doing this for some time, we’re still in an experimental phase and trying things for the first time,” he said.

As part of its development process, Snap gleans info about the personalities and topics that are most interesting to Snapchatters by analyzing media consumption on its Discover platform, Mills said. For example, the company greenlit scripted basketball series “Players” after seeing the popularity of Overtime’s “Hype School” with highlights of high-school hoops.

Mills declined to say whether Snap’s investment in original programming is profitable. “We believe this is really valuable investment in our business — we think about our content business as part of the holistic engagement on Snapchat,” he said.

Over the past year, the time spent watching Snapchat Shows has more than tripled and the total daily time spent by users watching Discover increased by over 60% and the number of daily viewers has grown by 35%, according to the company. (Snap isn’t releasing actual overall viewership numbers.) In the U.S., Snapchat claims to reach 90% of all 13-24 year-olds and 75% of all 13-34 year-olds.

“People come to a Show page with great intention,” Mills said. “It’s a stronger relationship with the show than if they were mindlessly scrolling down a feed.”

Snap continues to plow money into original shows for Snapchat, which it says draws audiences of millions — and millions of repeat viewers — among its millennial and Gen Z user base.

On Tuesday, the mobile messaging and media company announced a slate of eight new Snap Originals. Those include documentary series on controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine (from Complex Networks) and transgender beauty icon Nikita Dragun (Sirens Media) as well as “Everything’s Fine,” a scripted comedy about a bipolar college student from Paul Feig’s Powderkeg that features music by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. The shows will begin airing this fall on Snapchat’s Discover page.

Snap also announced renewals of three serialized originals for second seasons: “Bringing Up Bhabie,” a docu-series about rapper Bhad Bhabie from Invent TV (premiering winter 2020); scripted drama “Two Sides” from Whistle’s New Form (spring 2020); and scripted comedy “Kappa Crypto” from Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts, Snap’s joint venture studio with NBCUniversal (spring 2020).

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In addition, Snapchat Original “The Dead Girls Detective Agency,” based on the YA novel of the same name, returns this fall for Season 4. The series is produced by Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts, Insurrection Media and Keshet Studios.

With the new slate, Snapchat is delving into new formats it hasn’t tried before, said Sean Mills, Snap’s head of content. The new series span a range of genres, including character-driven docu-series, unscripted shows, and serialized scripted dramas, thrillers, and comedies.

“While we have been doing this for some time, we’re still in an experimental phase and trying things for the first time,” he said.

As part of its development process, Snap gleans info about the personalities and topics that are most interesting to Snapchatters by analyzing media consumption on its Discover platform, Mills said. For example, the company greenlit scripted basketball series “Players” after seeing the popularity of Overtime’s “Hype School” with highlights of high-school hoops.

Mills declined to say whether Snap’s investment in original programming is profitable. “We believe this is really valuable investment in our business — we think about our content business as part of the holistic engagement on Snapchat,” he said.

Over the past year, the time spent watching Snapchat Shows has more than tripled and the total daily time spent by users watching Discover increased by over 60% and the number of daily viewers has grown by 35%, according to the company. (Snap isn’t releasing actual overall viewership numbers.) In the U.S., Snapchat claims to reach 90% of all 13-24 year-olds and 75% of all 13-34 year-olds.

“People come to a Show page with great intention,” Mills said. “It’s a stronger relationship with the show than if they were mindlessly scrolling down a feed.”

Budgets for Snap Originals productions vary but they can “exceed what you see in cable,” said Mills. About half of the company’s originals are developed from incoming project pitches, but Mills said it’s looking for bespoke programming that is designed for Snapchat’s mobile, short-form formats: “We’re not shopping off the rack.”

More details on Snap’s new originals slate:

• “Tekashi69 VS The World” (Complex): Docu-series traces the rise and fall of Tekashi 6ix9ine (real name: Daniel Hernandez) from his days growing up in Brooklyn, through his chart-topping career and star-studded collaborations — to the rapper’s arrest on racketeering, weapons and drugs charges, and his plea deal on nine felony counts. Premiering this fall, it’s the first installment in Snap’s new “VS The World” franchise covering big names in hip hop, sports, and entertainment.
• “Nikita Unfiltered” (Sirens Media): YouTube influencer and transgender beauty mogul Nikita Dragun reveals a vulnerable new side to herself that her fans haven’t yet seen as she starts to date as a woman for the first time. Premieres winter 2020.
• “The Honeybeez” (Leftfield Pictures): The Honeybeez, Alabama State’s plus-size dance squad, is here to prove that dance is for everyone. The dancers let the haters be their motivators as they showcase their talents on the biggest collegiate stages. Premieres winter 2020.
• “Driven” (MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment): This entourage of young entrepreneurs at PTG365 deliver flashy, custom cars to their high roller clients using nothing but their phones and a whole lot of hustle. The high end, exotic car industry will never be the same. Docuseries premieres Winter 2020.
• “Mind Yourself” (Barcroft Studios): In this unscripted anthology series, each episode paints an intimate portrait of a young person suffering or recovering from a mental health issue, from OCD and body dysmorphia to depression and PTSD. Premieres winter 2020.
• “Everything’s Fine” (Powderkeg): Gemma is a college junior with big plans to kill it in the music industry while coping with a brand-new bipolar diagnosis in this scripted comedy with an unflinching point of view on what it takes to manage a mental health condition while striving to be an overachiever. Premieres spring 2020; working title.
• “Players” (Loud Labs Media and One Push): Scripted series follows Nash Brooks, son of famed NBA player Oscar Brooks and a rising star himself, who relocates from Indiana to L.A. when his dad is traded. No longer a big fish in a small pond, he has to prove his worth at a fancy West L.A. private school where he’s not even guaranteed a starting spot on the basketball team. Premieres fall 2019.
• “Save Me” (Loud Labs Media and One Push): In this scripted thriller, isolated home-schooler Jason discovers that his online classmate and crush goes missing — and takes it upon himself to find and save her. But when his search leads him to an off-the-grid “conscious community” that promotes human connection over digital devices, Jason’s character is tested in real life. Premieres winter 2020.

On the advertising front, Snap is selling six-second, non-skippable commercials for the premium shows. Snap recently announced new video ad features for advertisers, including the ability to add swipe-up actions on commercials. In Snap Ads, advertisers can now optimize for 15-second video views and the duration of skippable Snap Ads is increasing to a maximum of three minutes.

In addition, Snap is leveraging the augmented reality (AR) features of the Snapchat app to promote its originals. The company currently has two AR-enabled billboards on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles: One lets fans of the “The Dead Girls Detective Agency” scan the Snapcode on the billboard to watch the new trailer for season 4, and the other gives Snapchatters a sneak peek at zombie-invasion thriller “Dead of Night,” currently airing on Snapchat.

Other stats Snap provided to bolster its case that its originals strategy is resonating (note that these stats are reported by the company and unverified by third parties):

• In its first 24 hours, the premiere episode of “Bringing Up Bhabie” drew over 10 million unique viewers in February 2019.
• “Endless Summer,” Snapchat’s first reality series, starring teen YouTube creator Summer Mckeen and produced by Bunim-Murray Productions, reached over 28 million unique viewers in its first season, and more than 90% of viewers who completed the first season went on to watch season two in its first month.
• For “The Dead Girls Detective Agency,” 80% of viewers who completed season 2 went on to watch season 3 (which premiered in August) and 55% of viewers who completed the first episode of season 3 went on to watch the entire season.
• “Deep Creek” reached over 18 million unique viewers in its first season.
• Of the audience for ESPN’s daily “SportsCenter on Snapchat,” more than 60% watches at least three days per week.
• More than a third of NBC News’ “Stay Tuned” Snapchat audience watches five or more days per week.

Garden State, represent! That’s right: The Real Housewives of New Jersey has been confirmed to return for Season 9 at a later date.

Back in December, Siggy Flicker confirmed her exit from the show. “After much reflection and Bravo’s support, I have decided that this will be my last season on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I am grateful to the network for allowing me to be part of this successful franchise and wish only the best for Teresa, Melissa, Dolores, Danielle and Margaret. At this time, I want to focus on my beautiful family, my growing business and some exciting new projects.”

Bravo also confirmed that The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Orange County, Married to Medicine, Don’t Be Tardy, and The Real Housewives of Dallas will also return.

Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh has been named president of ITV America unscripted production company Sirens Media, with founders Rebecca Toth Diefenbach and Valerie Haselton taking new posts.

Sebastian-Dayeh (pictured) will jointly report to ITV America CEO David George, who replaced Brent Montgomery this January, and ITV America president Adam Sher.

Sirens founders Toth Diefenbach and Haselton will transition to creative director roles, and remain hands on as creators and producers.

In her new role, Sebastian-Dayeh will have responsibility for all content creation across a range of genres for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.

She joins Sirens from her role as senior VP of development at ITV Entertainment, also part of ITV America.

Since 2016 she has spearheaded development for the production label, creating and producing series and formats such as The Four: Battle for Stardom for Fox, Four Weddings for TLC and The Real Housewives of New Jersey for Bravo.

Sirens, which was formed in 2005, was acquired in 2013 by Leftfield Entertainment, which subsequently was acquired by ITV in 2014.

George and Sher said: “As a high-level executive with network and production expertise, and serious creative chops in pop culture-driven content, Jessica is perfectly positioned to lead Sirens Media as it heads into a new chapter at ITV America.

“We’re thrilled that Rebecca Toth Diefenbach and Valerie Haselton will be working with ITV America as creative directors, with emphasis on Sirens Media’s crime-focused programming.

“Their expertise in this space cannot be overstated; it has been transformative for Sirens and for the unscripted industry.”

A+E Networks has secured an overall first-look development and production deal with Elizabeth Vargas, the Emmy Award-winning journalist and former ABC 20/20 presenter.

As part of the deal, Vargas will become the face of A&E’s newly minted non-fiction primetime journalistic banner ‘A&E Investigates’, which will offer a premium stable of unscripted series and specials that provide an unfiltered look at the untold stories of people and events in society that have a profound impact on our culture.

Vargas will work with A+E Networks to develop and produce new non-fiction programming through the newly launched non-fiction content development company A+E Originals, spearheaded by Paul Buccieri, president of A+E Networks Portfolio Group & A+E Studios.

The deal marks the second overall deal for A+E Originals, after the previously announced pact with Leah Remini.

Vargas, who has been co-hosting ABC’s 20/20 for 14 years, announced in December 2017 that she would be leaving the network this May, following the culmination of the investigative journalism and news magazine’s 40th season, to pursue new ventures.

“Elizabeth is a brave storyteller and one of the most trusted journalists who is an expert at bringing audiences closer to the heart of stories that have never been told in order to reveal genuine moments of truth,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, EVP and head of programming at A&E Network, in a statement. “Her honest and authentic brand is the perfect fit for our audience that always seeks the truth and we are fortunate that she chose A+E Networks as her new home.”

The first planned projects under the ‘A&E Investigates’ banner include Cults and Extreme Belief (9 x 60 minutes, The Intellectual Property Corporation; debuting May 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT), which examines how controversial organizations use their influence to prey upon people’s desperation to create powerful and often destructive belief systems; and two-hour documentary The Plot Against America (Hot Snakes Media; debuts June 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT), which investigates the Russian enemy sleeper cells strategically placed throughout America.

Slated to premiere Summer 2018 is The Untitled Word of Faith Fellowship Project (w/t) from Collins Avenue, a 6 x 60-minute docuseries which follows the decades-long controversy surrounding the Word of Faith Fellowship Church in Spindle, North Carolina; and Sirens Media’s two-hour Child Brides (w/t), which premieres fall 2018 and investigates the stories of underage children forced into marriage in the U.S. and reveals the stories of child marriage victims who have escaped their dire circumstances.

A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights for all projects under the ‘A&E Investigates’ banner.

Discovery Channel’s slate in the new year includes a series that searches for answers surrounding the death of inventor and futurist Nikola Tesla, and the mysterious disappearance of his files and research.

Produced by Sirens Media, the tentatively titled Tesla, will follow Tesla historian Cameron Prince (pictured, left) and military investigator Jack Murphy (right) as they journey across the globe in search of information regarding some of the the innovator’s research, missing from his safe since his death in a New York hotel room in 1943.

The team of investigators will travel from Shoreham, New York to Tesla’s homeland of Serbia to seek missing documents and new data in order to build and test-fire a prototype of Tesla’s “Death Ray”, a superweapon claimed capable of ending all war. If lead engineer Aron Koscko can prove that constructing and activating this particle beam projector is plausible, it could provide a motive for murder.

Also featured in the five-part series will be a rare conversation with Tesla’s closest living relative.

Tesla will debut on Discovery Channel on Jan. 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The premiere will be preceded by a special highlighting Tesla’s contributions to communication and transportation technologies on Dec. 22.

Sirens’ Rebecca Toth Diefenbach, Valerie Haselton Drescher , Lucilla D’Agostino, Faith Gaskins, John Collin and Casey Dale serve as executive producers. For Discovery, Joseph Schneier and Michael Gara are executive producers and Maryna Harrison is producer.

Real Housewives of New Jersey producer Sirens Media has tapped veteran TV executive and producer Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh as president. In addition, company founders Rebecca Toth Diefenbach and Valerie Haselton will transition to creative directors of Sirens Media, part of ITV America production group.

In her new role as president, Sebastian-Dayeh will have responsibility for all content creation across a range of genres for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. She will report jointly to ITV America CEO David George and ITV America President Adam Sher.

Sebastian-Dayeh joins Sirens Media from her role as SVP of development at ITV Entertainment, also part of ITV America, where since 2016 she has spearheaded development for the production label, creating and producing series and formats such as The Four: Battle for Stardom for Fox, just picked up for its second season, and Four Weddings, which returns to TLC later this year.

Founded in 2005 by producing partners Toth Diefenbach and Haselton,Sirens Media will continue to focus on female and pop-culture-focused content such as hit docuseries The Real Housewives of New Jersey, which just finished its 8th season on Bravo, and crime-focused programming such as Discovery’s The Killing Fields, ID’s Who Killed Jane Doe?, among others. Sirens Media was acquired in 2013 by then-independent Leftfield Entertainment, which subsequently was acquired by ITV in 2014. Toth Diefenbach and Haselton will remains hands-on as creators and producers.

“As a high-level executive with network and production expertise, and serious creative chops in pop culture-driven content, Jessica is perfectly positioned to lead Sirens “Media as it heads into a new chapter at ITV America,” said George and Sher in a joint statement. “We are confident her talent, skill and ingenuity will continue to resonate with buyers as she shepherds compelling content that elevates and evolves the Sirens brand.”

George and Sher added, “We’re thrilled that Rebecca Toth Diefenbach and Valerie Haselton will be working with ITV America as creative directors, with emphasis on Sirens Media’s crime-focused programming. Their expertise in this space cannot be overstated; it has been transformative for Sirens and for the unscripted industry.”

“ITV America’s culture of teamwork and creative risk-taking, balanced with the highest levels of client service and fiscal responsibility, has been a great fit for me and a key part of my trajectory at ITV Entertainment, and now at Sirens Media,, addied Sebastian-Dayeh. I am thrilled for the opportunity to lead this unique brand and I look forward to bringing even more exciting, edgy and unique content to the marketplace.”

“We feel very fortunate to have built Sirens Media at a time when unscripted was changing the face of television, and to have grown the company while the industry was also maturing,” said Toth Diefenbach and Haselton. “We know that in the hands of Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh, Sirens will be at the forefront of the next wave of programming, delivering for the powerful and discerning female audience. We want to express our appreciation to David George and Adam Sher as well, and we look forward to, quite literally, remaining their partners in crime!”

Prior to her tenure at ITV Entertainment, Sebastian-Dayeh was head of alternative programming at USA Network where she oversaw production on multiple seasons of hit series Chrisley Knows Best, as well as the series First Impressions with Dana Carvey and WWE’s Tough Enough, among others. Previously, she was vice president of current and development at Electus, and also served as senior director of development at the Style network and as vice president of development at Original Media.