The sports-free internet TV bundle is here, and it's only $16 per month
Big cable bundles require people who don't want to watch sports to shell out big bucks for channels they never watch.
That's always been one of the big critiques of cable bundles. Non-sports fans basically subsidize the cost of sports packages.
Not anymore. On Tuesday, Philo launched its much-anticipated non-sports TV package, offering classic linear television over the internet with a select group of channels.
The lineup includes some of the major cable channels including AMC, A&E, HGTV, Lifetime, MTV, Comedy Central, and many more—35 in all. And nope, no ESPN.
The package runs $16 per month, and offers live TV as well as on-demand content.
Philo is still missing plenty. There's no local broadcast channels, no Fox-based channels (think Fox News and FX), or Turner channels (CNN, TNT, TBS, etc.).
Philo started out offering internet TV on college campuses, growing to more than 50 universities. Now, it's gunning for cord cutters in an increasingly crowded online TV market that now includes (deep breath): SlingTV, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, FuboTV, Hulu, Playstation Vue, and probably others that this reporter can't remember at the moment.
Philo's advantage is that it's the cheapest option yet. At $16, it comes in below even SlingTV's $20 plan, thought it offers fewer channels.
“Our goal at Philo is to build a television service that people love as much as they love their favorite shows. We’re constantly looking for ways we can improve the experience because at the end of the day, we’re also building Philo for ourselves,” said Andrew McCollum, Philo CEO. “We started delivering streaming television at universities six years ago, and we’ve taken all of the unique insight we gained about this new generation of TV watchers in order to build a unique product and content package at an incredible value.”
The full list of channels:
AMC
A&E
HGTV
Spike
TeenNick
Nick
Lifetime
Lifetime movies Network
MTV
MTV2
CMT
Viceland
Comedy Central
Animal Planet
BET
Sundance TV
Travel Channel
TLC
BBC America
BBC World News
Food Network
Discovery
AxsTV
GSN
VH1
History
TVLand
WE
OWN
IFC
ID
Science Channel
velocity
Cheddar
F4YI Network
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
