AT&T on Wednesday announced a partnership with global youth media company Fullscreen to offer a Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) service to its mobile, video and broadband customers starting next month.
According to Fullscreen, programming on the new service will target a 13 to 30-year-old audience and will include movies, scripted and unscripted shows and content from top creators and social influencers.
“This is for an audience that we know and love—a generation of young people that grew up with online video and social media,” Fullscreen Founder and CEO George Strompolos said. “The phone is their primary screen and they look up to an entirely new breed of creators and stars. We’ve created something special for them that feels more in tune with the way they want to experience great entertainment.”
Fullscreen said content will include new short-form series and full-length films, such as “Filthy Preppy Teen$,” a satire of contemporary teenage dramas; “Jack & Dean of All Trades,” a workplace comedy; “Making Moves,” a dance drama; and the film “The Outfield.” The service will also offer a selection of classic programming, like “Dawson’s Creek,” “Saved By the Bell,” “Cruel Intentions,” and “Can’t Hardly Wait.”
Those interested in sampling the service before committing to a subscription will be able to do so for 30 days, Fullscreen said. Otherwise, the service will be available for $4.99 per month through Fullscreen’s website and will be accessible via the iPhone, iPad, select Android devices and Google Chromecast.
The service will debut April 26, the company said.
If the whole setup sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
Though AT&T has signed on as Fullscreen’s launch sponsor and will collaborate with the company on marketing and content creation, it doesn’t appear the SVOD offering will be limited to AT&T customers.
That makes the service eerily similar to Verizon’s go90 mobile video platform, which is also carrier neutral and features millennial-focused short-form content. Where Verizon fully owns go90, Fullscreen is majority owned by AT&T and The Chernin Group through their joint venture Otter Media.
AT&T Entertainment Group CEO John Stankey in a statement said the new SVOD service is an “important part of our entertainment strategy for this demographic.”
A diversified content lineup with a millennial focus and a mobile format gives AT&T an opportunity to put substantial pressure on go90.
Launched six months ago, the Verizon video platform has had a slow start, with UBS reporting the service so far has topped out at number 300 overall in the iOS app store and number 20 among entertainment apps.
Though Verizon CFO Fran Shammo has said go90 figures have surpassed expectations, he’s also noted the service likely will not cross the line into profitability for another year or two.
That gives AT&T and Fullscreen plenty of time to take advantage of the mobile millennial market. In particular, the SVOD’s inclusion of longer-form content could give it a leg up with iPad users who have been slow to come around to go90’s short-form focus.