go90

go90
Founded October 2015 (2015-10)
Headquarters United States
Owner Verizon Media
Key people Richard Tom (GM and CTO, Verizon Digital Entertainment)
Products Streaming service
Television
Movies
Parent Verizon
Subsidiaries Vessel[1]
Website www.go90.com

go90 is an American video streaming service, launched in October 2015 by Verizon,[2] that offers a selection of TV shows, movies, clips, and other streaming media. go90 is free, ad-supported, and does not require a subscription.[3] From the beginning of 2016 Verizon's advertising campaign for go90 targets Millennials, Generation Z, and gamers.[4] A reviewer for Boy Genius Report said that the development of go90 was a continuation of Verizon's opposition to net neutrality.[5] Verizon planned to offer its subscribers go90 content without that content counting toward their bandwidth cap.[6] The service has been characterized as a case study in what can go wrong launching an internet startup within a larger company.[7]

Origin

The service was supposed to target millennials with a range of content. Verizon's Brian Angiolet argued that millenials are cord cutters and that "their favorite content is not coming from traditional networks". At the time of the launch, Verizon planned to release 50-55 new, short episode series, [8]Verizon is reported to have invested $200 million in the go90 product.[9] for only 2.1M average monthly users. According to insiders, Verizon made big content deals with little oversight. The initial wave of content, however, didn’t get the type of massive audience go90 was hoping for." despite spending $80 million on launch advertising[10]

Reception

Advertisers have been critical of the service, citing slower user adoption than expected. Warren Zenna, a digital specialist at Havas Media, categorized the service as being like YouTube but not as good. Part of the challenge was a poor interface, and difficulty finding the application.[11]

During Verizon's Q4 2016 earnings call on January 24, 2017, chief financial officer Matt Ellis, cited “... the average daily usage in go90 was consistent sequentially at about 30 minutes per viewer, with less than 20% of traffic surfed on the Verizon wireless network in the second half of the year.”[12][13]

Notable shows

go90 features original series like The Runner and Tween Fest from companies like MTV, Funny Or Die, CollegeHumor, AwesomenessTV, Nerdist Industries, Rooster Teeth, and more[14] and producers like Ben Affleck, Matt Damon,[15] and LeBron James.[16]

Layoffs

On January 23, 2017, it was reported that Verizon had laid off 155 go90 employees from its San Jose office, and that the staff of Verizon acquisition Vessel would be taking over its operation and redeveloping the service. Vessel's co-founder Richard Tom was appointed as chief technology officer of Verizon Digital Entertainment.[17][18] In late-March 2017, go90 released a significant redesign of its mobile app, which is designed to help improve discovery and content recommendations, and prioritize live content (such as sports) within the interface. The redesign also incorporates the "motion poster" concept for advertisement displays that originated from Vessel.[19][20]

Chip Canter was removed as general manager in April 2017, with Vessel's co-founder and CTO Richard Tom replacing him (just few months after Verizon acquired his company).[21]

References

  1. ↑ http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/verizon-go90-layoffs-1201967433/
  2. ↑ Morgan, Richard (September 17, 2015). "Verizon chases millennials with new mobile video service". nypost.com. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  3. ↑ http://deadline.com/2016/12/verizon-erin-mcpherson-head-of-content-strategy-programming-1201866656/
  4. ↑ Krause, Reinhardt (1 December 2015). "Verizon To Accelerate Go90 Mobile Marketing Targeting Gamers". news.investors.com. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Epstein, Zach (24 December 2015). "Verizon Net Neutrality Violation In The Works With Go90 Premium". Boy Genius Report. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Krause, Reinhardt (22 December 2015). "Verizon Revs Premium Go90, Data Cap Limits Excluded". news.investors.com. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  7. ↑ McAlone, Nathan (30 March 2017). "Verizon insiders describe the fight to save go90, its video service that has burned more than $200 million trying to catch the eye of millennials". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Guerrasio, Jason (17 November 2015). "Verizon thinks it's created the go-to entertainment app for Millennials — and it might be right". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/inside-verizon-go90-an-video-app-mix-between-youtube-and-netflix-2017-3/
  10. ↑ McAlone, Nathan (1 April 2017). "Verizon has spent at least $200 million on video for its go90 service, which has 2.1 million monthly app users". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  11. ↑ Shield, Mike (2 August 2016). "Advertisers Say Verizon’s go90 Rollout Has Been Rocky". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Go90 ‘not dead,’ had best organic growth in December, Verizon says | FierceCable". www.fiercecable.com. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
  13. ↑ "Verizon Communications (VZ) Q4 2016 Results - Earnings Call Transcript". www.nasdaq.com. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Jocelyn (April 11, 2016). "Verizon Hires GM of Digital Entertainment and Go90 - Grabs Chip Canter from NBCUniversal - VideoInk". videoink. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  15. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (March 16, 2016). "Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Reality Series ‘The Runner’ To Launch On Verizon Go90". deadline.com. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  16. ↑ Petski, Denise (January 20, 2016). "Sports Comedy From LeBron James’ Uninterrupted Set For Go90". deadline.com. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  17. ↑ "Verizon Lays Off 155 Employees at Go90 Division (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  18. ↑ Evans, Greg (2017-01-24). "Verizon Axes 155 Go90 Staffers; Streaming Service Targets Millennials". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
  19. ↑ "YouTube Challenger Vessel Starts Showing Off Its Service, and a Slick New Ad Format". Recode. Vox Media. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Verizon announces Go90 updates in effort to save cash-burning video platform". FierceCable. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  21. ↑ "Verizon’s Go90 General Manager Chip Canter Out as Vessel Team Takes Over". Variety. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
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