• Verizon chases millennials
• JV with Hearst formed
• New channels available through go90 zero-rating app

Verizon and media giant, Hearst, have cemented their existing relationship by forming a joint venture to go after the millennial viewer with a mobile video offer involving two channels of programming.

Hearst  recently lined up with Verizon as a beta partner for Verizon’s controversial  FreeBee Data 360 project under which content companies sponsor (pay for) content delivery. This mechanism has been called out as non-neutral since it  favours either a carrier’s own content or media companies prepared and able to pay for delivery, leaving others outside the fold since their potential viewers are limited by Verizon’s mobile data caps.

Now Hearst and Verizon are quickly moving one step forward by establishing a content creation joint venture. The result has the makings of a leaky walled garden as non-go90 users will find it inconvenient rather than  impossible to view the channels while staying under their data caps - they are able, says Verizon, to watch the content across WiFi.

The channels are to be called RatedRed.com and Seriously.TV and are to launch this spring  across go90, also recently announced, which is Verizon’s zero-rated mobile app.

Verizon Hearst Media Partners (as the JV is called) appears to be going after the sort of young audience which currently opts for online services such as Netflix.

RatedRed.com is to “be a multiplatform digital video channel for millennials from the heartland, offering this audience a brand of their own, with a lens on the world via news updates, documentaries and scripted and nonscripted series across topics like music, food, outdoor life, military affairs, politics and faith,” says Verizon.