• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 29, 2016

Snapchat has scored a partnership with NBC to show highlights from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The distribution deal is a first for the Peacock network, but likely not the last. NBC is reportedly hashing out similar deals with both Facebook and Twitter.

The deal should help NBC harness Snapchat’s young and highly engaged audience, as well as sell more advertising. 

NBC will sell any ads that accompany the highlights, and split some of the revenue with Snapchat. Neither company would discuss the terms of the deal on Friday.

Snapchat presently has partnerships with Major League Baseball and the NFL, which allow it to stream exclusive behind-the-scenes video rather than game footage.

Twitter desperately needs to strike a similar deal with NBC. Its revenue outlook is dim, and executives admitted this week that video is key to the company’s turnaround.

“We see a clear opportunity to increase our share of market, particularly around video,” Adam Bain, chief operating officer at Twitter, told analysts on an earnings call, this week.

Earlier this year, Twitter won the digital rights to NFL games on Thursday Night. Come this fall, Twitter will stream 10 Thursday Night football games while they are simultaneously being shown on NBC, CBS and the NFL. 

While in a far better financial position than Twitter, Facebook is equally focused on premium video opportunities.

The coming Olympics in Rio is shaping up to be the most social games ever, new research suggests. As has historically been the case, however, young consumers will do most of the sharing.

In fact, 32% of younger Millennial viewers (18-24) say they plan to share Olympics content on Snapchat -- along with 19% of older Millennials (25-34) and 12% of viewers over 35 -- according to a new report from Crowdtap.

For its findings, Crowdtap surveyed 500 U.S. adults to find out how they plan to interact with this summer’s Olympic games.

In a few short years, Snapchat’s market value has ballooned to $16 billion, while the company is said to be targeting between $300 million and $350 million in revenue in 2016 -- six to seven times the $50 million in revenue it projected last year.