Verizon’s Go90 General Manager Chip Canter Out as Vessel Team Takes Over

Chip Canter, the former NBCUniversal exec who led Verizon’s Go90 mobile video entertainment service for the past year, has parted ways with the company.

The Go90 team is now being led by Richard Tom, co-founder and chief technology officer of Vessel, the video startup Verizon acquired last fall. Canter’s exit was first reported by VideoInk.

When Verizon bought Vessel, which was co-founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, it had outlined plans to combine the startup’s team with Go90. The telco shut down the Vessel consumer-facing service, then earlier this year laid off 155 staffers in the Go90 group as it aligned development efforts around the Vessel crew.

“Chip Canter is no longer with Verizon,” a company rep said. “Since integration, Richard Tom and the Vessel team have been on-boarded and are fully up and running and have delivered a strong product. Effective immediately, Richard and his team will assume full responsibility for all mobile digital video products.”

Canter joined Verizon in March 2016 as GM of Go90 and Verizon Digital Entertainment content and distribution. Prior to that, he had worked at NBCU for 10 years, most recently as senior VP of product and business development for NBCU’s Digital Distribution group.

Verizon launched Go90, envisioned as a mobile entertainment network for smartphone millennials, in the fall of 2015. It has licensed and acquired a slew of content for the service, including original series from Complex Networks (jointly owned by Verizon and Hearst), but hasn’t publicly disclosed audience numbers for Go90.

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