Last February, fuboTV dropped the monthly plan on their Family Bundle, in an effort to test the impact of only offering a quarterly plan. After a few days, the company reverted back to offer monthly options on on all plans.
A year later, the fuboTV has started that test once again, but this time removed the monthly option on all plans on their website for new subscribers altogether. fuboTV has said that this is a “test not a permanent change.”
The company currently lists three plans:
- Starter Quarterly: $64.99/mo. ($194.96 prepaid quarterly)
- Pro Quarterly: $69.99/mo. ($209.97 prepaid quarterly)
- Elite Quarterly: $69.99/mo. ($239.97 prepaid quarterly)
The test was first spotted by Phil Swann.
The switch to Quarterly plans on some tiers do come with some benefits.
Those who choose Pro Quarterly would get Sports Lite (which includes channels like NHL Network, MLB Network, and NBA TV). Their Elite Quarterly Plan adds fubo Extra and News Plus.
The timing of the test comes just a month before March Madness, which fuboTV is lacking coverage on without TNT and TBS.
By introducing the new quarterly option, fuboTV is hoping to reduce monthly churn, while not having to offer a discount. By giving low-cost upgrades, it’s a win-win for both fuboTV and the customer. The customer gets more value, while fubo gets paid sooner and can more efficiently retain customers without having to drop the price of service.
The question will be whether charging quarterly will be a turn off to streamers who are used to paying monthly with the ability to cancel at anytime.
The other major downside to a quarterly option comes to add-ons. For instance, their Sports Plus add-on which includes NFL RedZone, you may only want for four months – but with a quarterly plan – you would have to select it for either three (too few) or six (too many).
The company ended 2021 with an all-time high of 1.1 million subscribers. In comparison though, it is still much smaller than Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV, who both have about four million subscribers each.