T-Mobile Pulls the Plug On TVision After Just 5 Months

Just five months after promising to “take on the cableopoly,” T-Mobile is discontinuing its TVision streaming TV service. TVision rolled out last November and offered existing T-Mobile customers low-cost options for live sports, news and network channels without needing a cable subscription. But T-Mobile quickly realized the model wasn’t sustainable. The company will wind down its TVision Live and Vibe offerings on April 29, one month from today, and is instead partnering with YouTube TV and Philo to deliver live television to its customers. “This shift may surprise some given last year’s TVision streaming services launch,” T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert wrote in a Monday afternoon blog post. “This industry is incredibly fragmented, with new streaming services launching all the time, and we’ve concluded that we can add even more value to consumers’ TV choices by partnering with the best services out there.” The blog, which was sheepishly titled, "Turns out, TV is better with friends," represents a major shift from the company’s brash attitude in October, when Sievert said, “just like we changed wireless for good—today we’re going to change TV for good!” TVision Live was initially offered at $40 a month and included more than 30 channels including ESPN. For an extra $10 a month, subscribers could access sports channels like the NFL Network and the Golf Channel. TVision Vibe offered on-demand and live programming with less of a focus on sports and cost $10 a month with lifestyle networks like HGTV and TLC. YouTube TV and Philo discounts Now, T-Mobile is offering its Live and Vibe customers $10 off YouTube TV and/or Philo each month, a discount T-Mobile will honor for as long as the customer remains a T-Mobile subscriber. Existing TVision Live customers get a free month of YouTube TV (which usually costs $64.99 a month; $54.99 with the new discount) and three free months of YouTube Premium. TVision Vibe customers can get a free month of Philo to start (usually $20 a month; $10 with the new discount). All T-Mobile and Sprint postpaid wireless customers are eligible for the partner offers, beginning April 6. A third offering, TVision Channels—which aggregated streaming services like Starz, Showtime and Epix—will also be phased out. The streaming device TVision Hub, built on the Android TV platform, will stick around. T-Mobile isn’t new to partnering with streaming services. The upper tiers of TVision Live came with a yearlong subscription to Apple TV+, and the operator offered certain subscribers free Netflix, as well as a yearlong subscription to Quibi. However, customers didn’t get to take advantage of that full year since the short-form streaming service folded after six months. Sievert described today's changes as a “big upgrade,” noting that YouTube TV carries more than twice as many channels as TVision Live, and Philo has nearly double the offerings of TVision Vibe. “With our TV software provider encountering some financial challenges and with our broader, strategic partnerships with Google and Philo, we saw an opportunity to deliver unique value to our customers and strengthen the TVision initiative with the best partners,” said Sievert. T-Mobile still plans to use video offerings as a “door-opener” for its upcoming home internet offering. “Even today at the peak of cord-cutting and streaming, most homes still buy entertainment and internet connectivity together,” said Sievert. While the TVision bundle is only a few months old, the TVision name is not. T-Mobile shuttered TVision Home, a former big bundle pay TV service, on Dec. 30, 2020. TVision Home was previously the Denver-based Layer3 TV service, which T-Mobile acquired in 2018.

Streaming & OTT

T-Mobile Pulls the Plug On TVision Streaming Service After Just 5 Months

The operator is offering YouTube TV and Philo discounts instead

Mollie Cahillane

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Mollie Cahillane