New Streaming TV Service 'Philo' Launches at $16/Month for Viewers Not Interested in Sports Content

The latest TV streaming service, Philo, will provide subscribers with a cost that undercuts the price of competing "over the top" services by excluding sports-related content (via Business Insider). This means Philo starts at $16/month for access to 37 entertainment networks, which you can watch on your iPhone, MacBook, connected TV, Roku, and soon the Apple TV.

Philo started by providing programming to college students on campuses across the United States, and is led by CEO Andrew McCollum, who was a founding member of Facebook. The company gained strategic investments totaling $25 million from five programming partners, including A+E, AMC, Discovery, Scripps, and Viacom. Every channel in the basic $16/month tier is listed below:

- A&E
- AMC
- Animal Planet
- AXS TV
- BBC America
- BBC World News
- BET
- Cheddar
- CMT
- Comedy Central
- Discovery Channel
- DIY
- Food Network
- FYI
- GSN
- HGTV
- History
- IFC
- ID

- Lifetime
- Lifetime Movies
- MTV
- MTV2
- Nickelodeon
- Nick Jr.
- OWN
- Science
- Spike
- Sundance Channel
- TeenNick
- TLC
- Travel Channel
- TV Land
- Velocity
- VH1
- Viceland
- We TV

For $20/month you can watch everything listed above, with the following channels added:

- American Heroes Channel
- BET Her
- Cooking Channel
- Destination America
- Discovery Family
- Discovery Life
- Logo
- MTV Live
- Nicktoons

Because TV providers sell content in bundles, Philo's lack of sports programming also hinders some of its entertainment offerings, including any channels owned by Disney and Fox. There also won't be any content from CBS or NBCUniversal. Still, Philo comes in quite low when compared to starting prices of other services like Hulu Live TV ($40/month) and YouTube TV ($35/month), and is more competitive with Sling TV's low-tier offerings ($20/month).

In terms of features, Philo lets you watch any channel live or save an episode of any show onto a DVR with storage that lasts for 30 days. You can also stream in HD on up to three devices at once. Although not appearing at launch, Philo also plans to debut a "Social TV" aspect in the future, with subscribers able to see which episodes their friends are on in a TV show, see a friends list of users actively watching something, and synchronize viewing of an on-demand show with a friend. Social TV features are expected to launch in 2018.

More information on Philo can be found on the company's website here, including a seven day free trial.

Tag: Philo

Top Rated Comments

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Fall Under Cerulean Kites

9 months ago

I admire them for what they’re trying to do, but a more accurate summary would be “No sports channels and none of the major networks.”

If ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX won’t play nice, the service is a bit hobbled.

I realize not everyone has access to it, but an over the air antenna will give plenty of people local networks broadcast in quality superior to what any streaming service can offer. For free.

Rating: 6 Votes

unobtainium

9 months ago

Rating: 5 Votes

jimothyGator

9 months ago

I want the opposite: Sports only streaming. I've got Netflix (like AllergyDoc, free through T-Mobile) and Amazon, and I don't care for the so-called reality TV programming that's taken over cable TV.

Does anything like that exist?

Rating: 5 Votes

OldSchoolMacGuy

9 months ago

Nope. It's gonna be expensive. Sports content is by far the most expensive, with ESPN being far and away the most expensive channel in all cable subscriptions.

Rating: 4 Votes

WWPD

9 months ago

No thanks, I hate commercials. Hulu commercial free and Netflix have spoiled me.

Rating: 3 Votes

Fall Under Cerulean Kites

9 months ago

Might be interesting to do that. I'm not sure which stations (if any) I'd get over the air, but could save me quite a bit of money.

There are some web sites that will show you what is available at your address with an OTA antenna. Here’s one I’ve used in the past:

https://www.antennaweb.org/Address

Rating: 3 Votes

AnnonKneeMoosee

9 months ago

This is one thing so many people ignore. “It’s only $20 a month, I’m paying <tv provider> $150 a month!” Yes, that is a big difference, but how much of that is TV vs how much is Internet. And they discount on bundles, so just internet will cost you more than it does in the bundle anyway. End of the day, you’ll save a few dollars a month, but not the $130 they think they will comparing the raw numbers.

I have a 3TB 4-tuner TiVo Roameo connected to an antenna in my attic. $0/mo, and more programming recorded than I have time to watch. Most anyone within 30-40 miles of a major U.S. city can do the same. The whole setup cost less than a few months of your $150/mo cable bill.

Think what you could do with an extra $1,800/year in your pocket. I've bought myself and my family some nice Christmas presents over the past couple of years. (Like a big iPad Pro for example.)

Rating: 2 Votes

Fall Under Cerulean Kites

9 months ago

Any country restrictions? Will it be available in Canada for example?

Anything’s possible with a VPN!

Rating: 2 Votes

Zorn

9 months ago

This is fantastic, as soon as they offer tvOS support, I'm in. I absolutely despise sports, and have always hated that most services won't let you selectively block certain channels so there is always a big SPORTS tab thrown in front of my face. Plus knowing I'm paying a good extra $18 for ESPN that I will never once look at.

Rating: 2 Votes

AllergyDoc

9 months ago

Hard most of the channels we watch. Add an HD antenna for local stations and Netflix (paid for by T-Mobile, Amazon (wife’s employers pays for) and we’re good to go, for about $20/month. Lost interest in professional sports; can’t identify with the players anymore.

Rating: 2 Votes

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