Another streaming service bites the dust. T-Mobile is discounting its streaming service, TVision, after just five months.
Instead, T-Mobile will offer its customers $10 discounts to either YouTube TV or Philo.
T-Mobile rolled out TVision last October, following years of rumors that it was getting into the streaming game. The service comes in two forms: TVision Live, which has three tiers of service, and TVision Vibe, a much more slimmed down and cheaper option.
“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,” CEO Mike Sievert said in a blog post Monday. “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.
“This industry is incredibly fragmented, with new streaming services launching all the time, and we’ve concluded that we can add even more value to consumers’ TV choices by partnering with the best services out there, negotiating incredible streaming media deals for T-Mobile customers, and helping our customers navigate the increasingly complex streaming world.”
TVision Live offers a bundle of broadcast and cable networks for anywhere between $40-$60. Additionally, subs can add premium networks, such as Starz, Showtime and Epix, starting at $5.99 per month. TVision Vibe, which runs for only $10 a month, features around 30 cable channels and is the one that appears to be drawing the ire of media companies.
The service ran into some legal trouble when Discovery, NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS all publicly complained that the way their networks were distributed on TVision violated their contracts with the phone carrier.