First Look: Fubo Launches ‘Instant Highlights’ Beta Feature for Select Smart TVs During NBA Playoffs
The sports-focused live TV streaming service Fubo has always been known as a top destination for fans to watch their favorite teams. It began its life as a dedicated streaming platform for soccer, but has since evolved into one of the biggest virtual multi-channel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) on the market, with a wide array of both national and regional sports networks.
To make the viewing experience even more enjoyable, no matter when you start, the service has launched a new feature that will make sports fans even happier. Fubo is rolling out what it calls “Instant Highlights,” a series of AI-generated clips from select games that allow viewers to relive big moments within seconds of when they actually occur on the field or court. The feature is only available to users of Amazon Fire TV and Android TV-powered devices as of now, but Fubo hopes to expand it to other devices soon. Fubo competitor YouTube TV has a similar feature that allows fans to catch up on games in progress by checking out the biggest moments of the contest thus far.
What Content is Available on Fubo’s Instant Highlights?
Initially, Instant Highlight clips will only be available for NBA Playoff contests. Game events added to the highlight list include:
- 3-pointers
- Dunks
- Layups
- Hook shots
Every generated highlight will include the player’s name, quarter, and the game clock at the time of the event.
How Can You Watch Instant Highlights?
To watch Instant Highlights, users will need to be recording the game they want to see clips from. To do so, they’ll need to first launch the FanView Experience, which can be done easily on Amazon Fire TV or Android TVs. Users simply need to:
- Start watching a live game.
- Press the UP directional arrow button on your device’s remote.
- Press UP twice more to activate the FanView Experience.
Once the game is being recorded, viewers will see the Instant Highlights widget at the top right of the screen. Navigate to it and click “Record.” Instant Highlight clips will be generated from the point you start recording the game.
A pop-up menu will then greet the user, who can choose to record future games of either team playing, or both, so they’ll have access to Instant Highlight clips from the next game in the series as well.
When highlights become available from a select game or games, users can navigate back to the Instant Highlights widget from the FanView experience.
A list of available Instant Highlights clips will be available on the right-hand side of the screen. The most recent highlight will load and play first, but users can scroll and choose which highlights they want to watch.
Can Users Save Instant Highlights to Watch Later?
Not initially, though Fubo may add this ability in the future. As of now, highlights will no longer be available once the game a viewer is watching ends.
Are Instant Highlights Available on All Games?
No, the Instant Highlights feature is still in beta testing for Fubo. That’s why it’s limited to Android TV and Fire TV devices for now, and why it will only be available for select NBA playoff games initially.
Is the Instant Highlights Feature Free?
Yes! If you have a Fubo subscription and an Android TV or Fire TV device, you can start watching Instant Highlights for select NBA playoff games at no additional cost.
Fubo
Fubo is a live TV streaming service with about 90 top channels that start at $79.99 per month. This plan includes local channels, 19 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs). In total, you should expect to pay about $94.99 per month, after adding in their RSN Fee. Fubo was previously known as “fuboTV.”