Telco, Frontier communications has been offering Internet access and TV services that provide a cable-like bundle to its customers in the face of falling interest in such offerings. That will not be the case in the future. Frontier is making the transition that many other cable companies will be making over the next decade. It is getting out of the TV business. But that does not mean that it will not offer customers an expensive large bundle of channels. It just won’t be in charge of it anymore, and by in charge I mean it won’t have to negotiate with channel owners and pay retransmission fees and get blamed for rate hikes. That’s going to be Google’s problem now. Any Frontier customer who wants to get a live TV service will be directed to sign up for YouTube TV. Frontier built a relationship YouTube TV over the last
few years while still offering its own TV service. But this move essentially hands off its TV customers to YouTube. The pickup is a real coup for YouTube TV. It will deliver a few million customers without the need to market to them, and have to explain what the service is and how it is different from the regular YouTube app that people have been using for years. Frontier customers are not required to sign up for YouTube TV. They can still use other live TV providers. But with prominent placement on the Frontier home page and no mention of its competitors customers will likely just assume that this is how things work now. The average person will think, I was a Frontier TV customer, now I am YouTube TV customer. And those coming to the service for the first time will likely just follow the links and sign up without even thinking about it any further.
YouTube TV makes it worth their while
YouTube TV customers through Frontier will get the added bonus of paying less than other customers for an entire year. If a customer starts a new TV service with Frontier via YouTube TV they will get a $10.00 discount. And Frontier’s existing TV customers will get YouTube TV for $15.00 per month off for an entire year. That is not an unsubstantial savings. It’s $180.00.
So it’s quite likely that any existing customers will be quick to take the offer. With the move, YouTube TV signals the next front in the battle for cable customers who are looking for big bundles for less.
Will other live TV streaming services look to build relationships with telcos in the future? Will YouTube TV become the default for other telcos? How this plays out will be very important for consumers and the communications industry going forward.
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