Reputed American brand Verizon has purchased a minority stake of 24.5 per cent stake in Awesomeness TV, owned by DreamWorks.
This is part of Verizon’s scaling up its premium offerings in video and mobile mass markets.
Awesomeness TV is expected to get a boost in creating fresh transactional VOD services which are financially endorsed by Verizon that will feature short form content created by and starring the network’s highly popular digital influencers.
The new service will function within the purview of Verizon’s Go90 application, but the ownership of the complete content and rights to sell it to distribution partners lies with Awesomeness TV.
DreamWorks Animation, which bought Awesomeness TV in 2013 for $33 million, remains the principal stakeholder with a 51 per cent ownership share, while Hearst owns the rest (24.5 per cent).
Awesomeness TV and Verizon first collaborated last April when the media company first inked a deal to provide Verizon with content for Go90.
Since then Awesomeness TV has produced a number of series, that includes an unscripted one from reality stars Snooki and JWOWW and an upcoming show from beauty blogger Kandee Johnson.
With the Verizon deal, the tween-centric digital company- Awesomeness TV stands at $650 million.
Late last year, Awesomeness TV and Endemol Shine Group entered into a strategic partnership to extend Awesomeness TV brand overseas.
Under the multi year deal, Endemol Shine Group’s premium channel network (PCN) Endemol Beyond was to launch local language, owned and operated Awesomeness TV channels in key markets outside the US, in countries that include the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Brazil.
Endemol Beyond will also support and further grow the existing Awesomeness TV roster of talent led channels in these markets, as well as incubate new talent and verticals across the network.