Vessel (website)

{{Infobox company

| name = Vessel Group, Inc.

| logo = Vessel (website) Logo.png

| type =

| industry = Online video

| fate = Acquired by Verizon

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| founded = {{Start date and age|2015|01|21}}

| founder =

| defunct = {{End date|2016|10|31}}

| hq_location_city =

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| area_served =

| key_people = Jason Kilar
Richard Tom

| products =

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}}

Vessel was a commercial video service launched in early 2015 by former Hulu executives Jason Kilar and Richard Tom.{{cite news|last1=Stone|first1=Brad|title=Vessel: A YouTube Rival That Wants to Be the Streaming HBO|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-21/vessel-launches-youtube-rival|access-date=March 31, 2015|work=Bloomberg Business|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.}}{{cite news|last1=Spangler|first1=Todd|title=Vessel Signs More YouTube Stars to Subscription Service, Launches Limited Beta Test|url=https://variety.com/2015/digital/news/vessel-signs-more-youtube-stars-to-subscription-service-launches-limited-beta-test-1201410625/|access-date=March 31, 2015|work=Variety|publisher=PMC|date=January 21, 2015}} Vessel was acquired by Verizon on October 26, 2016 and was closed on October 31, 2016.

History

The service resembled YouTube, whereby a viewer could watch videos for free. However, viewers could add "Early Access" at a $3 monthly or $20 annual fee to their account, which allowed them to view videos a minimum of 72 hours before the video is released to the general public. Vessel then created mobile applications for iOS and Android devices which optimized the videos for mobile viewing. The idea behind the site was that creators would be able to gain more revenue from their videos than on YouTube due to the subscription fee as well as advertisements.{{cite web |title=Here's Everything You Need To Know About Vessel, Jason Kilar's New Online Video Platform |url=http://www.tubefilter.com/2015/01/21/jason-kilar-vessel-launch-beta/ |website=Tubefilter |date=January 21, 2015 |access-date=October 19, 2015}}

After the site was created, YouTube personalities such as LinusTechTips, Craig Benzine, Connor Franta, Shane Dawson, Doug Walker, Caspar Lee, Tanya Burr, Good Mythical Morning, Epic Meal Time, Super Best Friends Play, Marcus Butler, Kent Heckel, LaToya Forever, Delaila Johnson, Tre Melvin and Jack Vale signed up to have their content streamed on Vessel.

On October 26, 2016, Verizon Communications announced that it had acquired Vessel, and that it would be shut down on October 31. Vessel's team was hired to revamp Verizon's fledgling video streaming service go90 (resulting in 155 members of the service's existing staff being laid off), with Richard Tom retained and appointed as chief technology officer of Verizon Digital Entertainment. Kilar departed after the sale.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/verizon-acquires-vessel-shut-down-1201901681/|title=Verizon Acquires Vessel, Will Shut Down Jason Kilar's Video Service|last=Spangler|first=Todd|date=2016-10-26|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2019-04-21}}{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/26/verizon-acquires-vessel/|title=Verizon acquires subscription video service Vessel, will shut it down on Oct. 31|work=TechCrunch|access-date=2018-07-09|language=en-US}}{{cite web|title=Verizon Lays Off 155 Employees at Go90 Division (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/verizon-go90-layoffs-1201967433/|website=Variety|date=January 24, 2017 |access-date=1 June 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/01/verizon-go90-layoffs-streaming-service-1201892967/|title=Verizon Axes 155 Go90 Staffers; Streaming Service Targets Millennials|last=Evans|first=Greg|date=2017-01-24|website=Deadline|access-date=2017-02-05|language=en-US}}