Frontier Communications has struck a deal with Philo to sell the streaming TV service to its broadband subscribers in what has become a busy week for traditional distributor and streaming partnerships.
Philo, which provides more than 50 channels (primarily focused on entertainment) for $20 per month, reached the agreement with Frontier in the same week that it partnered with WOW!
WOW! – which provides broadband, television and phone services in 19 markets including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia – announced this week that it will give its broadband customers the option to choose from Sling TV, fuboTV, YouTube TV and Philo.
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On Monday, Windstream announced that its Kinetic broadband customers will now have the option to add YouTube TV, which offers more than 70 channels for $49.99 per month.
“Partnering with YouTube TV gives our customers a way to cut the cord without sacrificing live, local coverage and seamlessly access the latest on-demand content,” said Jeff Small, president of the consumer and small and midsize business segment at Windstream, in a statement. “Fortunately, for our customers, the reliable high-speed network delivered by Kinetic is the best place to enjoy streaming video.”
The distribution deals announced this week are part of a larger trend where smaller and mid-tier operators are focusing less on traditional linear TV and more on broadband while referring some customers to streaming services. Even bigger providers like Verizon Fios have begun featuring third-party streaming TV options front and center within their service plan tiers.
For Philo, the WOW! and Frontier deals could help grow the subscriber base. Philo doesn’t report subscriber totals, but according to analyst firm MoffettNathanson, there were approximately 1.245 million subscribers split between FuboTV, Philo and PlayStation Vue (which shut down on Jan. 30) as of the end of the fourth quarter.