What could you do with $1 billion? Or even $300 million?
If you said, “Create a streaming service without a lot of focus and that nobody wants and has bad controls!”, you must be an executive at Verizon.
It wasn’t that long ago that I wrote about go90, Verizon’s video site and app. But now Verizon has announced they’re shutting down go90 at the end of July.
For most of you, this news is of little importance. Although it originally launched in October 2015, go90 celebrated its two year anniversary by being the exclusive provider of the dubs for certain Aniplex of America anime: anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and God Eater. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the service, but for most people, putting up with a lackluster service is better than dishing out Japanese-level prices for physical versions. Even if it did sometimes forget to have the controls for subtitles:
However, it’s not like fans don’t have an alternative. These and other anime hosted on go90 are available on other platforms like Crunchyroll and Netflix. Of course, most of these are only available with Japanese audio. If you prefer dubs (or just like to experience both versions), go90 going away is probably disappointing. Even if you weren’t a fan of anohana or God Eater, there was still the hope that other dubs could come to the platform.
The demise of go90 really isn’t that surprising. Verizon sunk a lot of money into it, but insiders say they never had a good game plan. The same article also says that go90 was overpaying for content.
If go90 was charging above market rates for content, then it may be unlikely that these two dubs will make their way to other venues — at least for now. Perhaps as they age, the price to license the dubs will drop low enough for somebody else to pick them up. God Eater‘s dub came out in late 2016, anohana summer 2017, so they’ve got a while before they become vintage. I can understand the reason behind keeping dubs as a part of the physical version, but as HIDIVE and FUNimation continue to push simuldubs, this way of thinking may be old-fashioned.
Still, though, the fall of go90 is part of the current business environment. Rather than trying to invest in something new, buying current services and businesses appear to be the better bet. As I just recently discussed, AT&T may acquire all of Crunchyroll’s parent company. Amazon, on the other hand, had to end their Anime Strike service after a year. HIDIVE appears to be doing well, but will subscribers stick around once their promotional plans end?
Plus, as devices like Roku, Chromecast, and FireTV become commonplace, new startups can’t – or don’t – afford to new apps compatible with all these devices as well as phones, tablets, and computers. Again, one of the biggest struggles with HIDIVE has been getting all the apps, and fans are still waiting for Roku and PS4 and/or Switch apps.
Don't rush the apps. #appsarecoming #HIDIVE pic.twitter.com/j71qmdr5Zc
— HIDIVE 🏳️🌈 (@HIDIVEofficial) June 24, 2017
So, will Verizon turn to acquiring other services to make up for go90? I wouldn’t be surprised. Still though, I’d rather see anohana and God Eater — and other Aniplex of America dubs — find a new home, especially since their releases are priced much higher than the competition.
In case they don’t, better hop onto go90 now and watch the English versions of these two shows before they disappear!