Verizon (NYSE: VZ) reportedly is in talks with media company Hearst Corp. about creating a joint venture to develop programming for Go90.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the talks between Verizon and Hearst Digital Studios are far enough along as to produce detailed descriptions of planned offerings. The paper describes the development of a politics-focused comedy network (think Comedy Central's Daily Show).
Also in the works is a Nashville-based network that would be, in the words of one insider, "a Vice for the red states."
All of this programming would be, of course, targeted at millennial-aged viewers, which is the primary demographic for Verizon's mobile programming service.
Launched last fall, Go90 is an ad-supported video platform, mixing traditional TV brands like Comedy Central and the NFL with YouTube-oriented programming from the Internet.
Hearst owns 25 percent of AwesomenessTV, one of the YouTube programmers that has a deal to produce content for Go90. Hearst also owns half of A&E Networks, another Go90 content supplier.
Verizon executives didn't deliver much in the way of usage data last week during the company's fourth quarter earnings call. CFO Fran Shammo did, however, reveal that the Go90 app has been downloaded more than 2 million times.
For more:
- read this Wall Street Journal story
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