Kanye West performed at the launch of Verizon’s video streaming app Go90 three years ago in the fall of 2015. But even the association of a big name like West could not save the company from shutting down.
Verizon has spent millions on content for the free, ad-supported app, yet consumers never really warmed up to Go90. So now the telecom giant is shutting down Go90 on July 30. “The Go90 app offers live sports, licensed television shows, and short-form original programming in an ad-supported model, though it’s struggled to find an audience during its time on the market. In 2018, following a concerted effort by Verizon to expand the reach of Go90 content, the service’s audience topped out at an average of 17 million unique viewers per month, Variety says. The Go90 app is arguably most useful in providing access to live sports programming, including soccer, NBA, and NFL games,” Engadget reported.
Kayne West talks on his smartphone as he arrives to attend Dries van Noten’s Fall Winter 2015 /2016 Ready to wear fashion collection as part of Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Binta)
Go90 licensed live-sports rights and content from dozens of short-form video producers, including AwesomenessTV, NewForm Digital, and Funny or Die. And, there were a few successful shows, such as “T@gged” from AwesomenessTV and the competition series “The Runner,” which was executive produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Go90 even took home an Oscar earlier this year with Kobe Bryant’s animated short “Dear Basketball.”Still, the app never clicked with potential users, even though it did have more than 17 million average viewers per month.
“Following the creation of Oath, Go90 will be discontinued,” a Verizon spokesperson confirmed in a statement. “Verizon will focus on building its digital-first brands at scale in sports, finance, news, and entertainment for today’s mobile consumers and tomorrow’s 5G applications.”Oath was formed after the finalization of Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo, which merged with AOL. It seemed like the writing was on the wall for Go90 once the Yahoo deal was complete. In early 2017, Verizon laid off some of the Go90 staff and even re-launched the app, adding a web-based version of the product. They also revamped the content to focus on programming for young female audiences, genre fare and sports. Verizon also began licensing library content like “Veronica Mars” and “Fringe,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“Earlier this year, Oath CEO Tim Armstrong hinted at changes when he told the crowd at the Code Media conference that the Go90 ‘brand will remain, I don’t know how long for.’ Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that in recent weeks Go90 programming executives had largely stopped meeting with potential partners while they waited for direction about the future of the business. Verizon is now discussing with content partners what will happen to their shows once the app shuts down,” the Hollywood Reporter reported.
Remember, @verizon – my predictions come true. Bye #Go90.
