The biggest mobile operator in America (in terms of the size of subscriber base) has apparently decided to shut down its mobile video app for good. Indeed, Verizon Wireless has stated recently this week that it will be canceling its ad supported Go90 video service.
It was around three years ago when the Big Red had first unveiled Go90 -- initially the feature was only made available to its own customers, but the carrier would later decide to launch the mobile video app to the general public (basically all mobile users regardless of which carrier they belong to) by the second half of 2015. Go90 not only delivered traditional TV programs, but also live programming such as National Football League (NFL) coverage and even college football matches, as well as short video clips (a la YouTube).
When Verizon Wireless closed its buyout of former Internet giant Yahoo (for a sum of $4.48 billion) back in June of last year, it had proceeded to forming a completely new business entity called Oath, which also consists of AOL, which was acquired by the Big Red in 2015. Because of these developments, it made sense for the national wireless service provider to put most of its attention to strengthening the new Oath brand, specifically in preparing a platform that can deliver sports, finance, news, and entertainment driven content for consumers heading into the 5G era.
Of course, Go90 is far from being the only mobile video app to launch in recent times and then eventually bite the dust. For instance, NBCUniversal had to witness its comedy video app Seeso never quite take off with the masses, and even cable TV giant Comcast had to pull back on the original programs and digital TV content it was preparing for its Watchable platform.
In the case of Go90, its cancelation might not be that surprising, considering that back in February early this year, Tim Armstrong, the chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, did hint that the mobile video app might not live long anyway. As mentioned earlier in this post, the main rationale is that Oath will now serve as the distribution hub for the Big Red’s media properties. The content already made available through the Go90 will simply be shifted to Oath.
Still, Go90 leaves behind a legacy of being the first service from Verizon Wireless to be made available to all consumers, and not just the Big Red’s vast army of subscribers.
