Snap announced a push around original TV content with plans to launch a dozen new programmes on its messaging app in a bid to increase daily active user numbers and better position the company to compete with Instagram.

In addition to offering fresh content, the company also plans to lure viewers with features including augmented reality, which Snap stated will enable users to “step inside a scene”.

Sean Mills, Snap’s VP of Original Content, told TechCrunch the amount of time users spent watching TV shows on the app had tripled during 2018.

The news outlet said Snap had previously offered 60 shows, citing an NBC news show, which is now attracting 5 million unique viewers per day (twice the number it attracted in 2017), and a sports programme pulling in 17 million viewers per month as examples of the growing popularity of TV content on the app.

While Snap is going head-to-head with Facebook Watch and Instagram’s IGTV, it will differentiate its original content through its monetisation strategy: it will show up to three adverts lasting around six seconds in each show, which cannot be skipped.

The move comes as Snap seeks to reassure investors following the departure of several key executives and the first ever drop in daily user numbers for its messaging app.