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Verizon shuts down its free Go90 video streaming service
Verizon is pulling the plug on Go90, its free streaming service that launched in October 2015. Go90 will officially shut down on July 31st, Variety reports.
Verizon lays off 155 Go90 employees
Verizon launched its vertical video-focused Go90 service in October 2015, and now many of the people behind it have been laid off. Variety and The Hollywood Reporter note 155 people, mostly from the San Jose office where much of the team was based, were cut late last week. In a statement, Verizon said the moves were a result of "some duplicative resources," but that they did not indicate a change in strategy. It does, however, bring an end to the Intel OnCue project that eventually formed a basis for Go90. When Verizon acquired the Vessel video startup late last year and shut it down, it seemed well positioned to work on Go90. Now that is apparently coming true, as it confirmed to Variety that former Hulu CTO and Vessel co-founder Richard Tom will lead Go90, taking the title of CTO of Verizon Digital Entertainment.
AT&T and Verizon defend their zero-rating policies to the FCC
AT&T and Verizon have pointed words for the FCC. In early December, FCC chief of wireless telecommunication Jon Wilkins sent separate letters to AT&T and Verizon warning that their zero-rating deals appeared to violate net neutrality rules. Yesterday, both companies responded with their own letters to Wilkins defending their programs as "pro-consumer."
AT&T pushes Fullscreen, FreeVIEW service in DirecTV Now's wake
AT&T's internet TV plans don't stop with DirecTV Now, as it also highlighted two Go90-ish services during an event today. The already-available Fullscreen (previously mentioned as DirecTV Mobile) offers a $6 per month subscription video service intended to be social- and mobile-first (read: this is where some of those Vine stars went), and now AT&T mobile customers will be able to get a year of free access bundled with new or existing plans.
Verizon team-up will create a mobile video service for teens
Apparently, Verizon doesn't believe its go90 video service is hip enough. It just bought a minority stake in AwesomenessTV, and plans to work with the DreamWorks-owned firm to create a "premium" short-form mobile video service as part of go90. Verizon isn't saying what the content will entail, but it isn't shy about who it's targeting -- the carrier likes that AwesomenessTV caters to "Gen Z and millennials" (read: teens and twentysomethings), and it wants in on the action. The project doesn't have a launch date, but it'll unsurprisingly be exclusive to Verizon's US-based platforms.
Verizon's video service sidesteps Verizon's bandwidth caps
Engadget's parent company Verizon is taking a page from T-Mobile's playbook and proving that it really doesn't care about net neutrality. The latest update to its Go90 video streaming app makes it so watching the company's content won't count toward a Verizon customer's 4G LTE data cap. This is bad for a few reasons. Some of the content on Big Red's app is shared among other services (Lifehacker's example is The Daily Show), but watching it anywhere but Go90 will eat into your monthly data allotment. Which isn't fair. At all.
Verizon's streaming video service, Go90, launches today
As revealed last month, Verizon is throwing its hat into the streaming ring with Go90. This new service is geared toward none other than millennials, delivering free access to live, as well as on-demand content from iOS and Android devices. Inside the application, which is now officially out of beta, Verizon will offer a variety of programming provided by different TV and online networks -- including Comedy Central, ESPN, NFL Network, MTV, Univision, Vice and many more. Like TechCrunch points out, what makes Go90 different than services such as Sling TV is its main focus on mobile devices, which is definitely an interesting strategy. If it ends up succeeding, though, don't be surprised to see Verizon bring it to set-top boxes and other streaming hardware.
Verizon' Go90 streaming video service starts with phones, sharing
After acquiring the remains of Intel's internet TV project last year, Verizon is finally ready to reveal its long-rumored internet video network. Called Go90, the New York Times confirmed it's launching this week, with an eye towards convincing younger folks to turn their phone sideways (Go90...get it? Don't worry, we didn't either) and watch video there, instead of in the 300-channel cable packages they don't want. While Comcast is bringing internet video to its cable boxes and Dish Network tries out Sling TV, Verizon's plan is "mobile-first" from the start. Instead of lining up channels, the "pared down" experience Bloomberg revealed last week includes some prime time TV shows, original internet shows and some live TV, including sports. Available for free, it will have ads, and encourage users to share clips on social media, sporting a "watch cut and share all of the awesome" slogan.
