Philo has 3/4m subscribers
Philo surpassed AT&T TV Now to become the fourth largest virtual MVPD. Their low cost, $20, plan continues to attract subscribers as the service grew 300% in the past year. In contrast to the other vMVPDs that have consistently raised rates, Philo’s non-sports package has allowed the company to continue offering their service at the lowest entry point in the market. In addition to the growth in subscribers, the company is also adding access points. Most recently, Chromecast support.
The NPD Take:
- There is clearly a place for a low cost streaming entertainment bundle and Philo is taking advantage of that market gap.
- COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and economic helped support the company’s growth. The challenge will now be retaining these subscribers.
Discovery DTC Plans
Discovery Communication, home to networks such as HGTV and the Food Network, discussed plans for an upcoming streaming service. This is far from the first time we’ve heard the company discuss potential streaming plans. However, the environment is different now as every other major network group has launched a DTC offering. The service is likely to bundle content from the large array of Discovery and formerly Scripps networks into a single streaming product.
The NPD Take:
- Given the basic cable nature of Discovery networks, it is likely to focus on an ad-supported plan as the flagship offering.
- The right pricing structure will be critical as current streaming services range from to $3 to $16 a month. Discovery will need to figure out where their brand fits in the mix of a service array that contains robust products such as Disney+ at the low end of that range, only $7 a month.
PlutoTV Reaches 33
ViacomCBS announced streaming figures include that for its two pay services, CBS All Access and Showtime. They now have more than 16 million combined subscribers reaching its year-end target early. The company also announced user figures for its free service, Pluto TV, which now has more than 33 million users worldwide. The key to free streaming has been content and UI enhancements of which PlutoTV has delivered on both. In our TV Switching research PlutoTV scored the second highest weekly engagement level among free streaming services at 44%. Only The Roku Channel topped that at 46%.
The NPD Take:
- Frequent viewer engagement is key and lacking for most free streaming services. Pluto TV and the Roku Channel are the primary exceptions. That’s largely driven by viewers who feel the services have the programming they want to watch.
- While the PlutoTV UI has improved significantly there are still basic features missing such as the continue watching feature working across your devices.