T-Mobile closes down TVision live TV streaming service, partners with Philo and YouTube TV

After five months of declaring its TVision streaming service, T-Mobile today shared the news that TVision’s three groups of live channels will all close down toward the end of April. The development comes as a feature of T-Mobile’s new association with Google and YouTube, which it’s describing as an enormous deal. The carrier says YouTube TV will presently fill the role of its “live TV solution.” It’s likewise situating Philo TV as the replacement for its base offering.

The Live, Live Plus, and Live Zone services that were accessible with TVision will go dark on April 29th.

On Apr. 29 T-Mobile will wind down its live TV streaming service, which launched five months prior. Rather the wireless carrier will partner with different services, to be specific Philo and YouTube TV, by offering $10 off their monthly subscription costs.

The streaming market is a cutthroat and competitive space in 2021, and the live TV streaming market much more so. While AT&T and Verizon have significant partnerships with services like HBO Max and Disney+, T-Mobile rather needed to build their own, and the subsequent TVision service launched this winter with a mediocre streaming box and a triplet of plans to look over. The service itself was fair, however, it was simply accessible to T-Mobile subscribers, restricting its reach and keeping it from truly contending.

Today, as T-Mobile reported an extended partnership with Google concerning Android and Google services like Google One backups and Google Messages RCS, it likewise rang the death knell for TVision, as T-Mobile will rather broker a deal to get T-Mobile subscribers a discount on YouTube TV instead, which works on more platforms and has a demonstrated track record.

TVision will currently go dark on April 29. TVision subscribers will have until June 30 to sign in to their account and rather change to YouTube TV at a decreased cost of $55 per month — and if you were a Live Zone subscriber of include NFL RedZone and different sports content, you’ll actually have the option to add on the $11 a month Sport Plus add on for RedZone, Fox College Sports, GOLTV, Fox Soccer Plus, TVG, Stadium, and MAVTV.

TVision was one of the various services aimed at delivering standard live TV channels to cord-cutters. Its base Vibe package cost just $10 each month, making it the least expensive major live TV streaming service and an astounding value for T-Mobile clients who want access to live TV without dealing with a cable subscription. Step-up packages offered more channels, including local stations, beginning at $40 per month.

T-Mobile is giving a free month of YouTube TV to clients who had signed up for the TVision Live packages, and all T-Mobile subscribers will be qualified to save $10 on the usual monthly rate of $64.99; so on the off chance that they want the service, it’ll cost $54.99 each month. They can likewise get three free months of YouTube Premium. On Philo’s side, clients can likewise get $10 off the usual cost.

“YouTube TV is a leader in this space,” T-Mobile said in today’s press release. “It offers the same great flexibility, robust content, and convenience that TVision customers love.” The message is clear: T-Mobile is collaborating with an organization that has been in this game longer and is as of now acquainted with all that it takes to make streaming, watch-anyplace TV work — regardless of whether it seems like the costs continue to move higher.

The new discounts are accessible presently to all current TVision clients and will carry out to new T-Mobile and Sprint clients beginning April 6. They cut the monthly cost of Philo in half, from $20 to $10, and bring a YouTube TV subscription down to $55 each month.

Current clients likewise get a free month of either YouTube TV or Philo, contingent upon which package they picked. The carrier says the TVision Hub, an Android TV-powered streaming gadget, will work with Philo and YouTube TV.

TVision launched in the midst of controversy, with three of its partner networks – Discovery, ViacomCBS, and Comcast’s NBCUniversal – claiming the service was never appropriately checked with them. Soon after the complaints surfaced, T-Mobile added more channels to its step-up packages.

In what comes off as an attempt to sugarcoat a short-lived misstep, T-Mobile says its “TVision initiative was launched to give customers new choices and help millions cut the cord while expanding appeal for the company’s forthcoming wireless home Internet service.” That doesn’t exactly coordinate with the usual brazen “Uncarrier” tone that T-Mobile had back in October, when CEO Mike Sievert said, “just like we changed wireless for good, now we’re gonna change TV for good.” At the time, T-Mobile said TVision Live was “a total game-changer for anyone who wants live news and sports.”

Sievert has now changed his tune. In a blog post today, he recognized that TV is better “with friends,” and broadly expounded on what prompted T-Mobile’s redone approach.

Sievert portrays the new plan as “a big upgrade,” adding that “YouTube TV offers more than twice as many channels as TVision Live, and Philo offers nearly twice as many channels as TVision Vibe.”

TVision Live had begun at $40/month, with Live Plus and Live Zone each expanding by another $10. As other internet TV suppliers know, it’s improbable that T-Mobile would’ve had the option to hold tight to those lower levels for long.

TVision Vibe — a $10-per-month service that gives on-demand access (yet not live streams) to shows from AMC, Discovery, MTV, and different networks — is additionally being phased out.

The same goes for TVision Channels, which allows clients to aggregate their subscriptions from Showtime, Stars, and Epix. The TVision Hub 4K streaming dongle will stay accessible, and it seems like YouTube TV will presently get a conspicuous spot on that gadget.

You can view this as a retreat on T-Mobile’s part, however, its decision is likely the correct one. YouTube TV stays the streaming TV service to beat, and there simply wasn’t sufficient about TVision to make it stand apart among YTTV and different competitors. Any price advantage was never going to last.

Regardless of anything else, T-Mobile is as yet promoting its strong 5G network advantage, as proven by the Magenta Max data plan it reported in late February. The plan is just one among the significant carriers to lift any deprioritization limits on data usage.

The passing of TVision is only the most recent change in the high-speed world of live TV streaming. Stalwarts Sling TV, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV all raised costs by $5 recently, and in January AT&T TV rebranded and solidified its service — and, indeed, raised costs as well. Presently Philo, which begins at $20 per month without any sports or local channels, is the least expensive such service.

Contrasted with TVision Live, YouTube TV offers more than twice as numerous channels. Philo likewise offers twice however many channels as TVision VIBE, rolling out this new improvement a colossal upgrade for T-Mobile clients.

Only five months since T-Mobile declared its TVision streaming service and it would appear that the Un-Carrier will close down this service by the end of April. In its place, T-Mobile will be inviting YouTube TV and Philo as a feature of its partnership with Google and Philo.

With the partnership, T-Mobile will offer YouTube TV as their premium live TV service and Philo as their base live TV service. Philo begins at $10 per month for T-Mobile clients only. When TVision live channels close down, T-Mobile will offer the two TV service at these costs:

• T-Mobile TVision LIVE and VIBE clients – Get $10 off YouTube TV and/or Philo every month.

• Existing TVision LIVE clients – Get a free month of YouTube TV to begin (regularly $64.99/month) and get three months of YouTube Premium on us (regularly $11.99/month).

• Current TVision VIBE clients – Get a free month of Philo to begin (regularly $20/month).

All T-Mobile postpaid wireless and Sprint consumer customers – Eligible for T-Mobile’s TVision partner offers: $10 per month off YouTube TV and/or Philo beginning April 6th.