T-Mobile offers subs one free year of ViX+ Spanish-language streaming service

TelevisiaUnivision is set to launch the premium Spanish-language streaming service ViX+ Thursday and starting next month T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile subscribers can get a year free.

T-Mobile announced the offer Wednesday, valued at $84 (ViX+ is around $7 per month), for both new and existing subscribers. The focus is on Spanish-speaking and Hispanic viewers who subscribe to the wireless carriers’ unlimited plans. That includes T-Mobile postpaid customers on certain plans such as Magenta and Magenta Max, prepaid Metro by T-Mobile customers on any unlimited plan and legacy Sprint customers on eligible voice plans. See the full list of eligible plans here.

Customers on basic tier postpaid plans such as Essentials, Simple Choice and others are not eligible for a free year of the subscription video on-demand service. T-Mobile is also offering ViX+ to customers of its Home Internet fixed wireless service.  

The offer starts mid-August, though T-Mobile didn’t specify an exact date. At launch ViX+ will be available on Apple iOS, tvOS and Android mobile and TV OS devices. T-Mobile said users can watch ViX+ on the mobile app or web, on up to three devices at a time.

It’s the latest streaming service offer from T-Mobile, which debuted “Netflix on Us” back in 2017. T-Mobile said ViX+ can be combined with any of the carrier’s other current streaming service offers.  

At the end of March TelevisaUnivision launched a free ad-supported version of ViX. Last month it disclosed the July launch and price of ViX+, a premium ad-free tier of the streaming service, which had been available in a beta version to some users in the U.S. and Mexico since February. In addition to the U.S. and Mexico, ViX+ is launching broadly in Latin America.

ViX+ offers more than 10,000 hours of Spanish-language original series, movies, news and live sports. It includes more than 4,000 hours of live soccer in the U.S., including overage of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League matches. Over 70 original movies and series are produced for the first year, including a Salma Hayek-produced romantic fantasy feature “Quiero tu Vida” (“I Want Your Life”).

“We are delighted that T-Mobile is bringing the massive value of ViX+ to its customers,” said Wade Davis, CEO of TelevisaUnivision, in a statement. “ViX+ is launching with an unprecedented scope of Spanish-language content across premium series, movies, sports and more. ViX+ is the only service built exclusively to represent and serve the Hispanic culture and the collaboration with T-Mobile will be the first to bring this service to its customer base.”

T-Mobile customers with “ViX+ on Us” also get access to all content on the AVOD version of ViX, which along with VOD content features 100 channels.

In its announcement T-Mobile said 80% of Hispanics in the U.S. watch digital video, more than any other group, and pointed to price increases from AT&T and Verizon as inflation continues to hit consumers’ wallets.

“As the top wireless provider for Spanish-speaking customers in the U.S., we understand what they care about, and today we’re bringing them a whole new way to enjoy the news, TV shows, movies and live sports that matter the most, and it’s all on us,” said Mike Sievert, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “While AT&T and Verizon are actually raising prices on their longtime customers, we’re doing things the Un-carrier way and giving our customers more without the added cost.”

It comes as streaming video viewership among Latinx viewers continues to rise, alongside more Spanish-language content options. A recent report from Horowitz found the share of Latinx households subscribing only to streaming services and not traditional video providers increased to 38%, compared to 34% in 2021. Seven in 10 Latinx TV viewers watch Spanish-language TV at least occasionally, the report showed.

“Hispanics in the U.S. watch more video on their mobile devices than anyone else but until ViX and ViX+ came along we had very few options to stream Spanish-language programs, and they were expensive on top of that,” said Jorge Martel, vice president of T-Mobile's Consumer Group.

Streaming platforms and services have also been putting a greater emphasis on Spanish-language programming this year as they look to attract audiences. YouTube TV in May launched a Spanish-language only package and a new add-on. Roku, meanwhile, debuted a destination hub on The Roku Channel (called Espacio Latino) geared toward Hispanic audiences with a broad collection of Spanish content.

As for TelevisaUnivision (which formed last year with a $4.8 billion merger of Univision and Televisa), this summer it disclosed plans to acquire streaming service Pantaya. At the time TelevisaUnivision said Pantaya’s Spanish-language TV and movie content would bolster the ViX+ platform.

“We have always been bullish about the Spanish-language and Latinx-themed content space, but until recently, this audience was underserved and presented an opportunity that was not being fully realized,” said Adriana Waterston, chief revenue officer and insights & strategy lead for Horowitz Research, in a statement.