Marcus Wiley Departs Snapchat in Original Content Strategy Shift

Snapchat’s Snap Channel, a feature for showcasing the messaging platform’s original content, including videos, stories, and even shows, is being shut down roughly five months after its debut.

“Give that we are winding down the Snap Channel, it’s natural that Marcus would want to explore other opportunities”, Snapchat explained in a statement. He came from Fox where he was co-senior vp comedy development, overseeing shows including The Mindy Project and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Wiley was then tapped as the Head of Program Planning and Development for Snap Channel.

Snapchat, which has about 100 million active users, was trying to give its users with content that they can digest.

Deadline reports that, after Snap Channel was pulled from Snapchat’s ad-supporting Discover tab, it was thought that a new, improved version was in the offing.

“Snap Channel” was launched in January as the company’s attempt to produce original content, sitting alongside its network of media partners, including CNN, ESPN and Comedy Central, on the Discover platform.

Henceforth, Snapchat is exclusively reliant upon its Discover partners to populate the offering on a daily basis. Since his hire in May, Wiley led a group of 15 that has been disbanded, with a few being pink-slipped and others being reassigned elsewhere in the company.

In September, the company told global Business Times that “yes, Snap Channel is now off the air”, but added that “the team is working hard on something new and fresh”. If that happens, it will be done via a different venue, not Snap Channel.