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

[Westside guy]

If this included Cartoon Network, I'd probably subscribe.

We mostly cut the cord 3-4 years ago (Comcast's pricing made it just as cheap to keep getting our local channels versus plain internet). The only channels I really miss are Food Network and Cartoon Network; and perhaps AMC to a lesser extent.

 

[vartanarsen]

No CNN? Where will i get my leftist propagranda now?

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

I like the low price. I don't like that it doesn't include any of the networks or news channels. I wonder if someone will ever give me what I really want? 37 years and counting. (Sigh) But at least this is getting closer to my ideal.

 

[WWPD]

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

 

[hlevolve]

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.

You can use this website to find your signal strength if your looking at antenna's:

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

Another site is this one:

https://www.antennaweb.org/Address

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Ah I see, I missed the fine print, I signed up with my phone number: "You can continue with your trial for 7 days.
(After your first 48 hours, we’ll ask you to sign up and give us payment information, but we won’t charge you until after the trial is over.)

I didn't do the sign up, I was just reading the page and saw the 7 day thing. I don't mind the card aspect after the 48 hours, if i'm actually watching it I will probably know by then if I'm going to continue.

I cannot begin to list the trials I start and run out of time because life got in the way... lol
[doublepost=1510680984][/doublepost]

You can use this website to find your signal strength if your looking at antenna's:

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

Another site is this one:

https://www.antennaweb.org/Address

Hopefully you get more than me!

Real life - I get nothing, went to the website and even it said nothing. UGH. I'm 50-60 miles from Orlando too!

 

[Defthand]

No thanks. These B List networks are the culprits responsible for making cable TV the overpriced, bloated, ad laden wasteland it became.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

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.

None of these services are cost effective for my house, given how few channels we need and how deeply Comcast cuts cable prices when bundled with internet. I think basic cable plus HBO is like $10 a month when added to the internet service.

We have the same Comcast, I think we are at $70+taxes for basic and internet. We actually can't watch the TV because something is wrong with that side of things. I've had 3 boxes and it still won't activate (after a power "thing"). So we stream the channels we want because the thought of a service call is.... ugh. Just ugh. LOL

So for me, adding this is indeed a better deal than adding more channels with Comcast, that will be limited to 1 TV instead of 3 like this. We already own the AppleTVs and Rokus, so $16 is a no brainer for me to get the channels I miss the most. I'm probably going to drop Hulu, no one is watching much on it.

 

[AnnonKneeMoosee]

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.)

 

[motulist]

If commercials are still shown then it's a no. I'll either watch advertisements for free content, or I'll pay for ad-free content, but I won't *pay* to watch ads.

 

[Jeremy1026]

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.)

Thats great and all, but we aren't comparing apples to apples here. With a properly sized antenna anyone can get free programming. This service, and the service that cable provides, is access to the channels not available over the air.

 

[bradg60]

New video service Philo an Apple TV no-show for now
https://www.bestappletv.com/news/new-video-service-philo-an-apple-tv-no-show-for-now/

 

[ike1707]

Until you go to pay using your non american credit card

Might gift cards remedy this?

 

[hlevolve]

I didn't do the sign up, I was just reading the page and saw the 7 day thing. I don't mind the card aspect after the 48 hours, if i'm actually watching it I will probably know by then if I'm going to continue.

I cannot begin to list the trials I start and run out of time because life got in the way... lol
[doublepost=1510680984][/doublepost]
Hopefully you get more than me!

Real life - I get nothing, went to the website and even it said nothing. UGH. I'm 50-60 miles from Orlando too!

haha well i don't have TV at all right now, i only have netflix and the old DVD's I purchased years ago. But i had looked at getting an antenna which is why I had the two sites links. That being said the sites only show that I can pick up these channels under moderate/weak quality so I doubt I'd pick them up if I did have an antenna. I used to live about 35 miles from Nashville, TN and I could pick up a ton of channels there.

WKMA PBS 35-1 UHF

WZTV FOX 17-1 UHF

WTVF CBS 5-1 UHF

WPGD TBN 50-1 UHF

WSMV NBC 4-1 Hi-V

WKRN ABC 2-1 UHF

WUXP MYTV 30-1 UHF

WNAB CW 58-1 UHF

WNPT PBS 8-1 Hi-V

WNPX ION 28-1 UHF

WBKO ABC 13-1 Hi-V

 

[Zorn]

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.

 

[x-evil-x]

Is there commercials on these streams? Ways to skip them?

 

[Jeremy1026]

Is there commercials on these streams? Ways to skip them?

They are live TV. No way to skip commercials. You might be able to skip from the DVR functionality.

 

[Sill]

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.

I'm with you. Even though my cable provider allowed blocking unwanted channels, I didn't want to pay for them even if they were out of sight. I didn't want to subsidize the sports channels, so the cable is gone. Now we have SlingTV, but in order to get one channel out of the 8 we like, we have to get the "+" package that includes sports.

I look forward to the day when I can just pay for the channels I want, and the rest can go fade into obscurity.

 

[itsmilo]

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

do you really need to ask? lol

...except watching Netflix content from other countries.

check Express VPN, still works

 

[mmomega]

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.)

****, my DTV monthly bill plus Sunday ticket would easily be $300+/month.

 

[scoobydoo99]

No thanks. These B List networks are the culprits responsible for making cable TV the overpriced, bloated, ad laden wasteland it became.

Actually, it’s the sports content that is to blame for the overpriced aspect of traditional cable. These channels are the cheap content that the cable company uses to pump up the number of channels so they can say you’re getting “150” channels.
Unfortunately, the traditional media companies are still up to their old tricks, so they won’t allow their good channels to be sold a la carte in a service like this without the high-revenue sports channels. So, no Disney channel without ESPN.
I doubt we’ll be able to escape the overpriced sports garbage while still getting the good channels anytime soon.

 

[Plutonius]

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 pay $25 / month for the sling tv blue package. The only channel I really miss is Fox Business.

Philo seems pretty good for the price but it's missing too many channels for me to consider.

On another note for those cord cutters using over the air tv, I found that my Roku box was screwing up reception. When watching over the air tv, power off all electronics near the antenna / tv (other than the tv ) . When you have your tv scan for channels, you will find that you get many that you didn't get before.

 

[Sill]

On another note for those cord cutters using over the air tv, I found that my Roku box was screwing up reception. When watching over the air tv, power off all electronics near the antenna / tv (other than the tv ) . When you have your tv scan for channels, you will find that you get many that you didn't get before.

Thats unusual. I've run scans with my aTV4, a BRD player, and a rather full featured power center all sitting in close proximity to my display, and I get a pretty massive list of channels. At one point I had all manner of speakers plus a really terrible Sony AVR sitting there under the TV, and it didn't affect my reception. I'd say either your Roku is "leaking", or your TV is really picky. Maybe both.

 

[switcher3365]

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?

Coming soon...

https://www.androidauthority.com/espn-plus-announced-814117/

 

[Plutonius]

Thats unusual. I've run scans with my aTV4, a BRD player, and a rather full featured power center all sitting in close proximity to my display, and I get a pretty massive list of channels. At one point I had all manner of speakers plus a really terrible Sony AVR sitting there under the TV, and it didn't affect my reception. I'd say either your Roku is "leaking", or your TV is really picky. Maybe both.

You may get lots of channels but give it a try and let me know.

I'm about 35 miles from the stations so maybe it's that. I get around 30 channels except many are carrying the same programming .