Why Skinny Bundles Like Philo and Frndly TV Could Benefit From Sports Streaming Service From Disney, Fox, WBD

The creation of a new joint venture streaming service that will pool the sports rights of ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery-owned channels like TNT and TBS could have ripple effects that spread across the entire pay-TV industry. Such a platform is reportedly on the way, and while some live TV streaming services like Fubo are quite upset about the announcement, others like Philo and Frndly TV just might be the unintended beneficiaries of such a streamer.

• Skinny cable channel bundles with no sports content could benefit greatly from the launch of a new sports streaming platform.
• Many customers could find these bundles and their low price tags appealing as they seek entertainment to balance their sports channels.
• Stacking streamers like Philo with the new sports JV streamer may offer significant savings over traditional cable plans, with similar content.

How Can Skinny Channel Bundles Take Advantage of New Sports Streaming Joint Venture?

Services like Philo are called “skinny bundles” because they offer some of the top cable channels on the market, but not all. Specifically, these services often leave live sports channels such as ESPN and local broadcast networks out of their lineups, meaning they don’t have to pay the exorbitant retransmission and carriage fees to include those channels in their lineups. That means that these services can charge subscribers significantly less per month; Philo comes with 18 of The Streamable’s top 35 cable channels, including AMC, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, but because it doesn’t offer local channels or national sports networks, it’s priced at just $25 per month.

Frndly TV — an even skinnier bundle — reduces the cable channel count even further, including just four of our top 35 networks: A&E, Hallmark Channel, History, and Lifetime. But subscribers can pay as little as $7.99 per month to get these channels from Frndly TV, which also offers a wide selection of other family-friendly cable channels and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels to augment its lineup for subscribers.

The Streamable's experts predict that the JV streaming platform from Disney/Fox/WBD will most likely be priced somewhere between $40-$50 per month, which means that these skinnier channel packs could be a highly attractive option for fans who need just a little entertainment alongside their sports. If Disney/Fox/WBD decided to charge the $50 per month on the top end of our estimate, customers could stack that platform on top of Philo and get 20 of The Streamable’s top 35 channels, plus livestreams of ABC and Fox’s sports programming for a total of $75 per month. That’s less expensive than any live TV service that offers all of those channels other than YouTube TV.

Why Skinny Channel Bundles Might Not See Explosive Growth from New Sports Streaming Venture

Undoubtedly, the creation of a new sports streaming platform gives streamers like Philo and Frndly the chance to poach customers from more expensive live TV services like Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM. Many customers may decide to leave their traditional pay-TV plans behind, as well. But smaller channel bundles may not see as big an influx of new subscribers as they’d like, as channel owners like Disney and WBD may decide to create their own skinny bundles that don’t include sports channels.

It will be harder for cable and satellite distributors to create new channel packages without sports networks, however. Disney infamously forces cable companies to put ESPN in their lowest-priced channel packages in order to ensure wide distribution of the network, so any existing companies like Spectrum or DIRECTV would have to drop Disney-owned channels altogether if they wanted to create a cheaper bundle with no ESPN. Perhaps Philo, Frndly, and other streamers that don’t carry ESPN already should think about creating more channel combinations, to increase the amount of choices potential subscribers have.

The other potential stumbling block for platforms like Philo in trying to convince subscribers to the JV streamer to stack their services together is that customers will be able to bundle the sports service with their Disney+, Hulu, and Max accounts. Some subscribers will likely find that to be entertainment enough, especially if they’re offered a discounted rate to combine their sports streamer with one or more of these entertainment services.

It’s hard to predict which streamers will thrive and which will suffer thanks to the introduction of a new sports streaming service from Disney, Fox, and WBD this autumn. There’s an opportunity for services like Philo and Frndly TV to grow substantially, if viewers are looking for lower-cost options to get top cable entertainment channels to supplement their sports viewing choices.

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Philo

Philo is a live TV streaming service designed for entertainment lovers which includes 60+ channels for $25 per month. It’s an especially attractive option for fans of live TV who don’t watch sports.

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They have a single $25 plan with major channels from A&E Networks, AMC Networks, Discovery, Hallmark, and ViacomCBS. These include A&E, AMC, BET, Comedy Central, Discovery, HGTV, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Network. The service also has a Unlimited DVR, which now keeps your recordings for up to a year.

You’ll also get channels like Cooking Channel, Destination America, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, LOGO, and Nicktoons.

While it doesn’t include any local or sports channels like ESPN, FS1 or NBC Sports Network, it is the cheapest option for live entertainment-only TV.

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$25+ / month

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