Big Tech

Broadband Technology is Powering a New Generation of TV Startups, Including Jeffrey Katzenberg’s

Published

2 years ago

May 21, 2018

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: With Jeffrey Katzenberg getting into the game, we now see a multitude of video entities and many over-the-top outfits promoting an array of content offerings. Katzenberg's take? Short-form TV. Let a thousand flowers bloom!

Katzenberg’s NewTV Video Startup Raises $800 Million, from Bloomberg

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg has secured about $800 million in financing for his video startup NewTV, which the company will use to fund high-end TV series that have YouTube-length episodes, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A constellation of large media companies, including 21st Century Fox Inc.and Warner Bros., is supplying NewTV with about $200 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. NewTV has secured the rest of its financing from institutional investors, according to the people, and it plans to announce the fundraising in the coming weeks.

NewTV will use the money to finance shows that are roughly the duration of a typical YouTube clip, but at a cost more on a par with a Netflix Inc. series. Each NewTV series will cost about $5 million to $6 million per hour, the people said, but individual episodes won’t run much longer than 15 minutes.

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Source: Katzenberg’s NewTV Video Startup Raises $800 Million - Bloomberg

(Photo of Jeffrey Katzenberg talking at the 2014 World Travel & Tourism Council's Global Summit in Hainan, China by World Travel & Tourism Council used with permission.)