T-Mobile's Binge-On adds YouTube
LOS ANGELES -- T-Mobile users can now "binge on" YouTube videos without wasting any data or money.
CEO John Legere said Thursday that the company will now let the Google-owned platform be part of its program "Binge On," which lets customers stream video from popular brands — including Netflix, Hulu and UStream — on their phones without additional costs.
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"Binge On is a real phenomenon, it's totally changing how our customers stream video for the better," Legere said in his video. "Millions are streaming two times more per day than they were before the launch of Binge On."
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His announcement comes four months after Binge On was unveiled at a hyped-up 10th "Uncarrier" event in Los Angeles.
There, Legere said Binge On is open to adding any service that wants to be a part of it. However, YouTube was noticeably absent from the list of services available.
"At this moment they [YouTube] didn't meet the technical requirements and/or desire to," Legere said in a Q&A after with audience members.
But Google said in a blog post Thursday that it initially didn't initially want to partake in Binge On because the "program raised questions from both users and video services."
"For instance, we didn’t think it was clear how the program would be implemented for video services that were not included in the 'free streaming' portion of the Binge On program," Google said in a blog post. "We also thought users needed more help to understand how the program worked and how to exercise their options."
However, Google said T-Mobile has improved notice and choice for users and information and choice for video services.
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Topics YouTube
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
