PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Heather Hayes 203.727.7043 [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Verizon and Hearst’s Joint Venture Set to Launch New Video Channels for Millennial Audience
Ø This Spring, Verizon Hearst Media Partners will distribute mobile media content to millenials through channels RatedRed.com and Seriously.TV Ø Targeting millenials from the “Heartland,” RatedRed.com will feature lifestyle content, and Seriously.TV will offer younger viewers a comedic take on politics. Ø Media will be disseminated via several platforms, including Verizon’s new streaming service, go90, recently acquired AOL, and Internet and television outlets.
NEW YORK – MARCH 2, 2016 – Today, telecommunications giants Verizon and Hearst announced their joint venture to develop mobile video programming with millenials in mind. This spring, Verizon Hearst Media Partners will launch two channels: RatedRed.com and Seriously.TV. The former will feature lifestyle programming with a target audience of tech-savvy Midwesterners, and the former will offer news and political content, presented in the style of late-night comedy programming.
Viewers will have the opportunity to stream the content of these new channels on several platforms, including mobile devices and social media. In lieu of Verizon’s recent acquisition of AOL and the release of their streaming service go90, RatedRed.com and Seriously.TV programming will be available on both outlets, as well as on computers and TV-connected devices like Roku. -more-
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This venture will combine Verizon’s expertise in video technology and Hearst’s background in digital content and production. Neeraj Khemlani, co-president of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, commented on Hearst’s partnership with Verizon. He said, “Hearst has invested in some of the most robust Millennial-focused digital video networks—from BuzzFeed and Vice to AwesomenessTV and Complex—and we are excited to add Verizon as a partner to continue to build and invest in this space.”
Both Verizon and Hearst will equally fund the venture, and the enterprise will be based out of New York City.
About Hearst Hearst is one of the nation’s largest diversified media, information and services companies with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; majority ownership of global ratings agency Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; 30 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif., which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicleand Albany Times Union, more than 300 magazines around the world includingCosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s BAZAAR and Car and Driver; digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital and video companies such as Complex, BuzzFeed, VICE and AwesomenessTV. Follow us on Twitter @HearstCorp and subscribe to Hearstlink.
About Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) employs a diverse workforce of 177,900 and generated more than $127 billion in 2014 revenues. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with 110.8 million retail connections -more-
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Media Contact Heather Hayes 203.727.7043 [email protected]