Source: Verizon will launch its Go90 mobile video service in coming days, with free ad-supported shows from AOL, Awesomeness TV, Vice Media, and Viacom
named for the act of rotating your mobile device's screen 90-degrees sideways for video viewing” https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Go90 moves from rumor to launch: after Verizon confirmed in July that the service would arrive free, late this summer with full episodes from select networks, Bloomberg reports it will go live within days carrying ad-supported shows supplied by AOL, Awesomeness TV, Vice Media, and Viacom.
The lineup matters because Verizon had already bought into one of these suppliers — it later took a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV for $159M to anchor premium short-form programming — making the carrier both distributor and part-owner of its own content pipeline.
First-order effects
- Viacom, Vice Media, Awesomeness TV, and AOL gain a new free, ad-supported distribution channel aimed squarely at viewers who rotate their phones sideways, while Verizon gets an inventory of shows without licensing them outright upfront.
Second-order effects
- The partner relationships deepen rather than stay arm's-length: Verizon follows the launch by buying equity in AwesomenessTV, and when the app underperforms it plans a separate live online TV package with dozens of channels rather than folding live TV into go90.
Third-order effects
- The arc from launch to shutdown traces a structural lesson for carrier-built video: Verizon spent $200M+ on programming but lost users to weak discovery, rebuilt around Vessel's tech team, then wound go90 down and redistributed its programs inside Oath outlets like HuffPost and Yahoo Finance — suggesting telco video survives better folded into acquired media brands than run as a standalone app.
The trend: Carrier-owned streaming apps launched as audience plays are consolidating into media-company portfolios, with distribution rights reverting to the studios that supplied them.