Verizon pulling YouTube off FiOS interactive menu

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is pulling its most popular widget, YouTube, from its FiOS interactive menu, the carrier has informed its existing customers. A direct Internet stream will be available to new set-tops starting later this year for subscribers who want to access the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)-owned video service.

Verizon declined to say why it was removing the widget which provided access to a subset of YouTube's most-viewed clips. It has been a staple of the interactive menu since 2010, according to a story in Variety.

The move could, in the end, make it easier for subscribers to access their YouTube videos via set-tops and connected TVs. The current FiOS scheme required subscribers to install Verizon Media Manager software on a PC to stream the videos to the TV. A new Verizon Media Server, coming later this year, will allow direct broadband video streaming from YouTube to set-top boxes, the story said.

"The majority of connected TVs and so many connected devices within the average home today also provide access to YouTube," the spokeswoman said.

Most YouTube videos are still watched on computers, but about 25 percent of global views are now coming from mobile devices, Google told the publication. YouTube is also available on game consoles from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Sony and Nintendo as well as connected TVs and other connected consumer devices.

For more:
- Variety has this story

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