“Philo, a fledgling skinny-bundle TV streaming service, is taking two steps closer to its big-league competitors,” Joan E. Solsman writes for CNET. “The live-TV streaming company will work on Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV devices this summer, CEO Andrew McCollum said last week. An Android mobile app is next on the roadmap. ”
“When Philo launched in November, it worked on Roku, on Apple mobile devices and by casting from a Chrome browser on your computer through Chromecast or any other TV-connected Google Cast,” Solsman writes. “In addition, you’ll be able to do more with your Philo account. The company is unlocking the streaming apps for the TV networks included in a customer’s subscription. That means if you pay for Philo’s $16-a-month bundle of cable channels, you’ll be able to access the paywalled apps for channels like AMC, Nickelodeon, Discovery Channel and History. (Insiders call this TV Everywhere authentication.) ”
“Philo is the latest in a parade of virtual TV services that have emerged in the last three years and also is the most niche. Most of its competitors are backed by tech Goliaths like AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Google’s YouTube TV, Dish’s Sling TV or Sony’s PlayStation Vue, as a way for those companies to establish their turf as television viewers migrate from traditional providers like cable to digital ones,” Solsman writes. “Philo’s bundle lacks big-time sports, round-the-clock news, big broadcast networks, local channels or the biggest cable networks (which almost all have sports). But those are also the most expensive channels out there. Without them, Philo is cheapest among the newborn ranks of virtual live-TV services.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sony’s PlayStation Vue remains the best service we’ve seen. We use it via Sony’s excellent Apple TV app because it offers the most live local networks in our area (we get them all anyway via HD antenna, but it’s nice to have them in the Vue app; search for Playstation Vue in the Apple TV App Store). We like the way the Vue app operates and its cloud DVR functionality (DVRs all your shows at once and stores unlimited episodes on up to 500 programs).
Always check your local channel lineup in your area before purchasing a service. Some that show ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC icons only offer them as On-Demand only.
man, what a great brand name for tv service name for the American inventor of television. He had to fight RCA nearly his entire life to protect his patent…reminds me of Jobs and “the Mole’s” theft of a certain phone OS.
I lived across the street from Philo Farnsworth in Fort Wayne. The liberals have recently removed his statue from Washington DC and replaced it with a little known feminist.
Nice try comrade – lol. The statue was replaced by a nearly unanimous vote of the almost entirely Repuglican Utah State Senate.
Crawl back in your troll-hole dirty rooskie!
idiot.
Yes Botty, you are. You still have a little way to go to be the biggest idiot in Oklahoma but we’re all rooting for you.
Nice to see you finally looking in the mirror and self-identifying yourself for what you are.
An $11 app for Mac that offers free international TV channels in a simple interface = CloudTV. I’ve been using it for about a year and enjoy it every day. At the moment it has 800 channels. It depends upon what country (or what country’s exit node) you’re ‘in’ as to what you can view. Within the USA I can get 20+ streaming channels. Add quite a few more if I’m within the UK / EU. Using my VPN, I currently have 100+ streaming channels I actually want to watch (vs crud I don’t want to watch). Highly recommended:
http://cloudtvapp.net
CloudTV allows you to watch over 800 live TV channels from all over the world, as well as download thousands of catch-up programmes from the UK and France, complete with smart playlists and support for AirPlay.
PS Vue needs to fix their app. Last update causes extreme buffering. Had them for a year, thinking about leaving.
Have tried all but PS Vue and Philo. Still want a la carte and am currently on DTVN.
I do not watch a to of TV but am not much more happy about subsidizing 40 channels to get the 5 I watch than subsidizing 140 to get 5.
The first service to offer instead of fixed bundles the customer option of picking x number of channels for x number of dollars will win. This would be a good thing that would reward quality providers and stop the subsidy of channels 5 people watch.
I tried Direct TV Now, what a mess.
Love PlayStation Vue.
Looks like AppleTV customers are last in line to get this skinny bundle service. Roku and web browsers were prioritized. What does that tell you?