The major Hollywood studios, Alibaba and Liberty Global are among the investors in a new venture to launch a mobile video service. WndrCo, a company set up by film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, announced that it raised USD 1 billion to launch the service, the Hollywood Reporter reports.
The investors include 21st Century Fox, Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Media, Viacom, eOne, ITV, Lionsgate and MGM. Madrone Capital led the round, which also included participation from Alibaba, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Liberty Global. The valuation of the company was not disclosed.
Started a year and a half ago, the 'NewTV' venture is led by Katzenberg and former HP CEO Meg Whitman as CEO. Katzenberg said the money will be enough to get the project off the ground by the end of 2019. He plans a mobile-first subscription video offering that will focus on premium original programming delivered in short, 10-minute chunks, aimed at audiences in the 25-30 age range. Multiple price points are planned, with one higher-priced option that doesn't include advertising and a lower-priced tier with limited ads. A new name, along with a senior leadership team, will be announced in the fall, Whitman said.
Katzenberg was previously with DreamWorks Animation until it was sold to NBCUniversal. Before he left DWA, he had planned to build a premium video service, dubbed Made for Mobile, with AwesomenessTV, which his company majority owned. The project was waylaid by the DWA sale, but he now sees an opportunity to relaunch the plan. The aim is to give all the people already watching short-form video on their phones a more premium experience, Katzenberg said.
