Verizon To Produce Content For Millennials

Verizon will come up with intriguing content targeting millennials.

Verizon Communications Inc. is all set to establish a joint venture with Hearst. This collaboration is aimed to develop content that can be viewed by millennials on their smartphones as per the New York Times. The newly established collaboration known as Verizon Hearst Media Partners will result in the formation of RatedRed.com. The channel is said to be for "millennials from the heartland".

The platform will cater to broadcasts such as politics, faith, music; military etc. the company will offer television broadcasts that will cater to the current affairs with a comedic twist to it. Both the platforms will be launched this spring and the company will make several changes to it in the times to come.

The joint venture by the company is said to be an effort by them to enter the streaming world which is getting crowded each day. The cable giants like Showtime and HBO are coming up with content for the masses without the need of cable subscriptions. The effort by the wireless network carrier is in line with the company’s effort to promote Go90 application. This app is also targeting the millennials where the content will also go live.

It is said that the content will be present on the websites of each channel. It needs to be noted that Hearst is a renowned investor in all popular digital properties. The company has stakes in Vice, BuzzFeed and Awesomeness TV.

Mr. Neeraj Khemlani, the Co-President of Entertainment and Syndication at Hearst mentioned to the New York Times, "Every time there is a giant technology shift, you want something that is authentic to that new audience.” He further added, "The new generation wants new brands that reflect their views, their lens on the world. This is a forward investment into a new generation."

At this point one cannot really predict if the service will work or not. However, there is also another venture in the pipeline by Disney and Univision that is also targeted on millennials. The company lost a hefty amount of its hard earned cash spent on the venture since its inception. During the first nine months of 2015, Univision had to deal with a sparring loss of $17.8 million. Moreover, as per recent reports, Disney is also trying to release itself out of the deal. This is a great example for Verizon if they wish to learn from the suffering of Disney and Univision.

However, the company seems to be looking at the positive side since the millennial targeted video content that is owned by behemoths like Vice and BuzzFeed are forcing the media giant to try their luck in this domain.

Verizon needs to realize that it is a crucial state for them which can turn out to be the next big thing in terms of streaming content or it can turn out to be a complete failure. Whatever the case might be, the company needs to play extremely smart now.