Verizon Has a brand new Slimmed-Down tv package deal, however At $55 A Month, Who Will Subscribe?

In what is also a too-little-too-late concession to the recognition of cheaper streaming subscriptions, Verizon Communications has created a discounted television package deal with just a few dozen channels. The package deal remains to be a tv plan, now not a streaming subscription, but Verizon could also be looking to stop the growing numbers of “cord cutters” from losing month-to-month television subscriptions totally.

whereas cheaper tv contracts with fewer channels are one thing shoppers have wished for many years, the introduction of streaming has changed the sport, and Verizon’s new providing demonstrates a elementary misunderstanding of why viewers choose streaming over conventional television: they want instant get right of entry to to great content, not channels.

The slimmer plan’s $55-per-month ticket is cheaper than the $90 monthly reasonable for television subscriptions, consistent with the the big apple occasions, but it’s still a far cry from Netflix’s $9 month-to-month fee. however competition additionally comes from streaming-best tv products and services, like the $50-per-month playstation Vue and $20-per-month Sling tv. Verizon’s new plan has the benefit of cable and community channel availability—playstation Vue has CBS, NBC, and Fox but now not ABC or PBS, whereas Sling has not one of the giant networks. however subscribers to playstation Vue and Sling aren’t locked into a contract—they are able to cancel at any time. That freedom is essential.

As the new York occasions points out, Verizon will not be letting subscribers have much freedom, particularly with regards to channel selection, as a result of that endangers the entire tv ecosystem: television teams sell bundles of channels to cable providers, and cable suppliers repackage that to promote to individual subscribers. but HBO Go and the newly released streaming-only subscription HBO Now are perfect examples of person networks breaking far from hegemonic tv to sell content material immediately to new subscribers.

[by the use of the brand new York occasions]