Verizon Media Opens 5G Studio In LA, Drives Content Innovations

Verizon Media, which operates digital publishers HuffPost,TechCrunch and Yahoo News, has opened a studio in Los Angeles dedicated to developing storytelling and tech capabilities with the advent of 5G wireless technology.

Verizon Media is saying it is the first 5G production studio in the country. It is launching the studio with RYOT, Verizon’s branded content studio and innovation lab.

Alex Wallace, general manager of news, entertainment and studios at Verizon Media, stated the studio expansion allows the company to “strategically innovate all forms of video and audio experiences for our consumers and partners around the world.”

She says its developing the next generation of content and driving innovation at the convergence of storytelling and technology. The studio will also “serve as a partner to other content creators to experiment on the future of content production and immersive entertainment,” per the company.

Verizon Media teased that it will show advertisers at its NewFront on April 30 the power of 5G with a special presentation of “Hypezilla,” a "multifaceted, motion capture and AR-enabled shoppable content series" for Verizon Media’s newest gaming and entertainment app, Yahoo Play.

Verizon Media opened a brand new, 360-degree, 4K-capable studio in New York City this April. 

Business and finance news platform Yahoo Finance, for example, streams eight hours of weekday live programming from that studio, as well as with additional studios in London and Canada.

In a previous interview, Lydia Polgreen, editor-in-chief of HuffPost, told Publishers Daily the brand is already exploring 5G technology to bring new storytelling capabilities with data and visuals, and tapping into Verizon Media’s 5G resources.

Several projects from HuffPost are in the works to launch later this year, per Polgreen.

5G technology is the path to “the next generation of journalism," Wallace says. “It will be 5G and immersive journalism at scale.”

Part of the reimagining of digital storytelling will mean adopting virtual reality and augmented reality in a more “mainstream” way. “We are beginning to think what journalism is going to look like in five years,” Wallace said. “We want to lead the charge.”

Verizon Media is the rebranded Oath, which was created after the AOL-Yahoo merger in 2017.

The company's portfolio also includes AOL.

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