Jeffrey Katzenberg’s New TV platform raises $1bn from major studios

New TV, an entertainment platform built for easy, on-the-go, mobile viewing, and backed by major media companies from Disney to ITV, has raised $1bn in its initial funding round.

Led by Hollywood studio exec Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman via WndrCo, the holding company Katzenberg founded, the platform attempts to allow leading studios and creative talent to tell original stories “in an entirely new way”.

New TV (working title) is aiming to launch by the end of 2019, with a premium line up of original, short-form series comprising of ten episodes each. It will have two subscription tiers including one ad-free addition and one without.

Investors in the new concept include Disney, Entertainment One, Fox, ITV, Lionsgate, MGM, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Viacom, and Warner Media.

Technology company investors include Alibaba, with strategic partner investors such as The Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Liberty Global and Madrone Captial leading the round.

Whitman said: “More so than ever, people want easy access to the highest quality entertainment that fits perfectly into their busy, on-the-go lifestyles. With NewTV, we’ll give consumers a user-friendly platform, built for mobile, that delivers the best stories, created by the world’s top talent, allowing users to make the most of every moment of their day.”

Julian Bellamy, managing director at ITV Studios, commented on the investment, saying: “Global demand for high quality entertainment continues to grow. Being part of the start of this exciting new mobile platform offers ITV’s hugely talented and creative people around the world the opportunity to produce content in a way never seen before.

“This investment is consistent with our ‘More than TV’ strategy and the focus on growing UK and Global production. We look forward to working with Jeffrey, Meg and the team.”