T-Mobile Kills Its Streaming TV Service 5 Months After Launch, Gets Cozy With YouTube TV
Well, that was an incredibly brief run. It was only five months ago when T-Mobile tried to lure customers over to TVision Live (an expansion of its TVision service launched in 2019), which as its name implies is a live TV streaming service. And now T-Mobile is turning the channel, essentially phasing out TVision Live in favor of YouTube TV as part of a multi-year agreement hammered out with Google.
A visit to the TVision portal at T-Mobile makes clear that "YouTube TV is now T-Mobile's premium live TV solution." And in a related blog post, the wireless carrier further explains that it has also partnered with Philo, which serves as its new base live TV service. The dual partnership is being pitched as an expansion of the TVision initiative.
To get things started, T-Mobile is offering a $10 discount on both services. That puts the price of Philo at just $10 per month, and YouTube TV at $55 per month. The deal is good for both new and existing subscribers, with the discount in play for as long as subscribers remain a T-Mobile customer. Additionally, TVision Live customers are eligible for a free month YouTube TV.
"This shift may surprise some given last year’s TVision streaming services launch. But innovation seldom follows a straight line. Since launching the TVision initiative, we’ve learned a lot about the TV industry, about streaming products, and of course, about TV customers," T-Mobile explained in a blog post.
"We also saw trends that made us take a fresh look at how to best do in video what we always do: put customers first. With our TV software provider encountering some financial challenges and with our broader, strategic partnerships with Google and Philo, we saw an opportunity to deliver unique value to our customers and strengthen the TVision initiative with the best partners," T-Mobile added.
The wireless carrier also pointed out how "incredibly fragmented" the streaming landscape is right now. Eliminating TVision as you know it and partnering with Google and Philo condenses things a small bit.
As to which is the better option, YouTube TV or Philo, it really depends on what channels are important to you. YouTube TV is the more robust out of the two with a bunch more channels, but it also costs five and a half times more with these discounts in play. If you want more, you have to pay more, in other words. But if all you're after is a basic live TV lineup, Philo's promotional pricing is certainly attractive.
In any event, the discounted offers are good to claim until April 6.
