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Bud Light, Paramount Pictures support Flipboard?s first TV series

Magazine publishing platform Flipboard is tapping into entertainment content with television and movies that are being sponsored  at launch by Bud Light and Paramount Pictures.

Comedy Central?s The Colbert Report is the first television series available on Flipboard?s iPad application. The content is supported with pre-roll video advertisements.

?As part of our overall strategy across all of our properties, our goal is to put our content where our audience is, and we see Flipboard as a game-changing app,? said Steve Grimes, senior vice president of digital media at Comedy Central, New York.

Flipboard is a mobile platform that transforms print content onto the iPad with the goal to recreate a relaxing reading environment.

Quick laughs
Comedy Central?s The Colbert Report is the first TV show to join Flipboard from parent company Viacom.

Fans of the show can browse exclusive clips and scenes from The Colbert Report.

The Flipboard app features 19 pages of content from The Colbert Report and aggregates content from the show?s Web site ?colbertnation.com.

Social media is a large component of The Colbert Report?s repertoire and users can interact with any piece of content on the app via logging into Twitter.

The goal of The Colbert Report Flipboard channel is to serve as a central hub for Colbert Report fans to stay up to date on their favorite TV show.

As part of being on Flipboard, Comedy Central is responsible for selling its own advertising space.

According to Comedy Central, the publisher sees Flipboard as more than just a one-time deal and has interest from other advertisers besides Bud Light and Paramount for future promotions.

Before each video clip, an advertisement for either Bud Light or Paramount is shown.

In the Bud Light clips, the beer manufacturer promotes its current video campaign that targets football fans as being the official beer of the NFL this season.

Here is a still shot from the Bud Light ads

?TV and movies are increasingly becoming more social,? said Christel van der Boom, spokeswoman at Flipboard, Palo Alto, CA.

?I see the trend continuing and adding that social video content to Flipboard makes sense,? she said.

Exclusive content
According to Flipboard, additional TV shows will be added to the app in the following months.

Flipboard?s transition to entertainment content signals a shift in mobile publishing.

Consumers are looking towards mobile as a one-stop channel for all daily content.

Additionally, consumers are increasingly watching more video content on their mobile devices (see story).

Banking off the similar model of Flipboard, numerous news and magazine aggregator apps have popped up as competition to Flipboard.

?Mobile has been incredibly important for some time and is the fastest-growing channel,? Mr. Grimes said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York