Verizon officially stops Go90 mobile video service in July – Variety

Go90 is officially eighty-six.

Verizon's Go90 mobile video service, launched almost three years ago, will end on July 31st. The Go90 app, with a mixture of short originals Entertainment, live sports and licensed television shows have never managed to attract a significant audience and, as a result, have struggled to to reserve advertising dollars

. did not effectively market the service targeted by the millennium. Go90's operations have already been combined in Oath, the division that merged AOL and Yahoo.

"After the creation of Oath, Go90 will be discontinued," said a Verizon representative in a statement. "Verizon will focus on developing its first digital brands in sports, finance, news and entertainment for mobile consumers and tomorrow's 5G applications."

Tim Armstrong has already telegraphed the gesture of Telco brand standalone. Armstrong, speaking at the Code Media conference last February, said Go90 would eventually be eliminated and noted that content purchased for Go90 was distributed on Yahoo and other Verizon properties.

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According to Verizon, the problem with Go90 was its inability to scale up. After releasing Go90 programming on Oath sites and apps in the last six months, the total audience of Go90 programs has averaged more than 17 million unique viewers per month.

Verizon's reformulated mobile video strategy launches it's live sports. Telco has exclusive pacts with the NFL and the NBA for games and related content that is distributed by Yahoo Sports. Verizon is now considering garnering other offerings for mobile content for news and entertainment.

Verizon had acquired content from various partners, including AwesomenessTV (in which Verizon holds a minority interest), Complex Networks (jointly owned by Verizon and Hearst), Vice Media, New Form, and Endemol Shine North America. The company informed the programming partners of the decision to withdraw the plug on Go90 on Thursday.

The Go90 originals included "Top Grier", an improvised comedy with social media star Hayes Grier; "Executive Embeds" political comedy series of executive producers, including Megyn Kelly and Michael De Luca; and a thriller on social networks "@tagged" of AwesomenessTV. Other series included the sports comedy "Now We're Talking" by LeBron James "Uninterrupted and Warner Bros." Blue Ribbon Content; The documentary football series "QB1: Beyond the Lights" by Peter Berg; and New Form's "Mr. The President of the Student Corps" comedy of adolescence and series of sci-fi adventures "Miss 2059."

According to a representative of Verizon, the fate some of Go90's original programming has not yet been determined. The company will work with content partners to determine the next steps, she said.

Go90 was also plagued by turmoil on the technical development front. Verizon had acquired Intel's OnCue division – which had developed an over-the-top video service that was never finally launched – for $ 200 million in January 2014.

L & # 39; ex-OnCue team built the original Go90 platform. Then, in October 2016, Verizon acquired Vessel, the troubled internet-video start-up co-founded by Jason Kilar, and killed Vessel's service. In January 2017, Verizon fired most of the OnCue team to entrust the development of the Go90 to the former Vessel crew.

At this point, the fate of employees who are dedicated to building the Go90 is uncertain. A Verizon representative said that there will be no significant layoffs following the closure of Go90 but said that there would be redundant positions that will likely be eliminated.

Even with the death of Go90, Verizon touted some of his critical hits. This included an Oscar win this year for Kobe Bryant's animated short "Dear Basketball."