T-Mobile to Offer Customers Viacom TV Channels -- Update
04 April 2019 - 3:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Drew FitzGerald
T-Mobile US Inc. struck a deal to offer Viacom Inc. channels to
its cellphone customers, extending the telecom operator's foray
into a turbulent pay-television industry.
The No. 3 wireless carrier by subscribers said its Layer3 TV
service reached a "significant content distribution agreement" with
Viacom, owner of cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy
Central. The companies didn't detail the terms of the arrangement
or timing of the new offerings, which will include live channel
feeds and on-demand content.
T-Mobile paid $325 million last year for Layer3 TV, a company
that offered cable-like video service to residential customers. The
carrier expanded its footprint to some households in four cities
but pledged to use the new company for a more ambitious product
that would give its cellphone customers more entertainment on the
go.
T-Mobile executives initially planned to launch the new video
service late last year but pushed back its debut to the first half
of 2019 to negotiate carriage rights and improve the product. The
company said Wednesday that the Viacom agreement "will play a key
role in T-Mobile's delivery of compelling new mobile video services
to consumers later this year."
The company hasn't detailed how much its planned service would
cost and which shows, if any, would be available to cellphone
subscribers free of charge.
The agreement comes as T-Mobile seeks federal and state
officials' approval for a more than $26 billion acquisition of
rival Sprint Corp. The merger, which would leave the country with
three nationwide cellphone carriers, is under review.
T-Mobile struck a separate deal in 2017 with Netflix Inc. to
offer the streaming video service on demand to family-plan
customers. That move burdened the company with added costs but
helped it attract and keep more cellphone customers, the company
said.
Providing real-time TV channels is a trickier business. Cable
and satellite-TV programmers often strike complex deals with
distributors and are reluctant to let their partners break up
profitable channel bundles by offering video a la carte. T-Mobile
executives haven't explained their pay-TV plans but have promised
their offering will be different.
"We think there's a more nuanced role for us to play in helping
you get access to the great media brands out there that you love,
and to be able to put together your own media subscription in
smaller pieces, $5, $6, $7, $8 at a time," T-Mobile operating chief
Mike Sievert said in a February conference call with analysts.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 03, 2019 12:42 ET (16:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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