anxious to understand and reflect the spirit of the current generation.
Angiolet said Verizon has been working to build out its digital business with the media consumption habits of younger viewers in mind. Verizon’s mobile TV app Go90 will launch publicly on Thursday and is targeted at millennials who would rather watch video on handheld devices than large screen televisions. He said this audience is even looking to watch longer-form content, not just quick clips, on smartphones. “They’ll watch a 22-miniute show that way,” Angiolet said. “We’ve all been talking mobile-first, but really it’s mobile-only.”
Users of the ad-driven Go90 app will get access to clips comparable to YouTube shorts, as well as television content, for free without a subscription. The app will only work on mobile devices, not laptops, desktop computers, or even TVs that are connected to the Internet.
Though the attention lately has largely been on millennials, the media industry is already trying to reach the next generation following at their heels. Robbins said his company, Awesomeness TV, puts out content for the millennial and the even younger Generation Z audiences, viewers whom he said want to see celebrities they care about—who might not be mainstream Hollywood stars. Awesomeness TV had Greycroft Partners as one of its backers, and was acquired in 2013 by DreamWorks Animation.
Robbins said we are now looking at the first post-Internet generation, many of whom who are adept at producing their own content for the digital space and can relate to the personalities and stars they discover there. He said Awesomeness TV capitalized on younger viewers’ preference for digital personalities by making Expelled, a comedy movie released last December, featuring YouTuber Cameron Dallas. “We put that out on a couple of screens, and then it went to iTunes for digital release and it went immediately to No. 1 on the iTunes charts,” he said.
That release relied on the social reach of the cast instead of a hefty investment in a media blitz to get the word out, Robbins said. He posited that the response to Expelled showed how the audience has taken more control in their relationship with the media world and is unlikely to give it back. “You really can’t dictate to them,” Robbins said.
