All the Things You Need to Know About Philo

There is no denying the fact that live streaming television services offer more flexibility than you may get from the satellite television packages you subscribe to. There is a massive lineup of channels when compared with the cable television service. However, the service may not be cheap, as you get the channels only after paying for the internet. The cord cutters may not want to spend money to miss some noteworthy action on television. Thanks to the live TV streaming services for offering you with a bundle of packages and the basic perk of availing this service is to pay less. When you consider the services of Philo, you will notice that the service provider has abandoned the conventional package of channels and the pricey ones like sports, to offer a bundle of entertainment channels that cost less than $20 for the basic services and this comes about with a DVR support.

Philo app was available on Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, but if you are not one of the users of these platforms and have not taken a look at this service as it was not available on the streaming box, you can take a close look at it to decide whether you need it or not. Philo TV may seem similar to the other streaming channels such as Sling TV, DirecTV Now, Hulu or YouTube TV, but the offering is entirely different from the rest of the services. It offers a small package of channels than the full subscription to the cable channels that you may have and no wonder low price is the major perk of this service.

Philo TV primarily offers lifestyle programs and entertainment to the customers and most of the programs are provided by the owners of Scripps, Discovery, A&E, and Viacom which also provide channels such as CMT, Comedy Central, MTV and several others. It simply means that you may not get the channels that are provided by the other live streaming television services such as the local networks and the sports channels. However, you will find plenty of other channels that are taken from the deeper catalog of cable television services.

Channels and Philo TV service

As you are already aware, the channel packages of Philo do not offer the broadcast networks such as CBS and NBC and exclude the sports channels such as Fox Sports and ESPN and the other channels in the mix. You may find that there is a lack of focus on the news channels, although you may get a couple of them if you avail the basic package. Ideally, the focus is on the entertainment channels with the popular options that include Food Network, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, AMC, MTV, and HGTV. For the $20 bundle, you get a handful of other channels many of which capture the niche market and appeal to the viewers.

Channels for $16

There is a package of thirty-seven channels for this amount including BBC World News, Animal Planet, AMC, BBC America, DIY Network, FYI Game Show Network, Discovery Channel, Game Show Network, Investigation Discovery, Nick Jr., OWN, Sundance TV, Velocity, Lifetime Movies, A&E, AXS TV, Paramount Network, Science Channel, Food Network, MTV 2, Nickelodeon, TLC, TeenNick, Travel Channel, TV Land, Viceland, WE TV, VH1, HGTV, IFC, History, Cheddar, BET, Comedy Central, CMT, and Lifetime.

Included in the $20 Package

Those viewers inclined to pay $20 can get 46 channels in total and you can add these channels to the above-mentioned list, such as BET Her, Discovery Family, American Heroes Channel, Cooking Channel, Discovery Life, MTV Live, Destination America, Logo, and Nictoon. For the beginners, trying their hands with this live streaming service, there is a seven-day free trial service available through the website. All that you have got to do is to input the phone number to try it for a couple of days and extend the free trial period by paying from your account.

Philo TV $20 Package

You can get a handful of local networks for free if you get HD antenna, and if you do not mind missing the sports action, Philo is strong on the entertainment channels. It is certainly one of the cheapest ways to catch the action of some of those shows such as Daily Shows and The Walking Dead. The company has added three more channels to the service in October 2018 such as Revolt, Aspire TV, and UP TV.

Accessing the service

There are certain drawbacks apart from the personal preferences that can keep you away from Philo TV service, but it is still growing. Presently, you can access it via the website, through the Roku set-top boxes, sticks, and via an iPhone app. It is not available at present on Android, Apple TV, Amazon Firebox, Android TV, non-Roku smart televisions or in the gaming consoles. Even though you may find these gaps on the Philo streaming service right now, the Android app will launch soon along with the Amazon Fire apps and Apple TV. The service comes from a small company; so, the extension also happens one by one. However, a bleak access to the set-top box and lack of the native iPad or Android app may have some people guessing before accessing this service at this time. However, the scenario can change in the future. Taking a look at the features of this service might change your opinion about this live television service soon.

Philo TV service

Features of Philo live-streaming TV service

Apart from the on-demand and live contents, Philo also offers free cloud DVR just like the other pricey streaming services. You can avail the facility of unlimited recording, but make sure that you catch up with them early as the recorded content stays for a period of thirty days only. When compared with the DVR time limit of Playstation Vue, it does not go beyond thirty days. One of the major things to consider while availing a package of live streaming television service is the number of devices that can tune-in simultaneously for people wanting to view different programs in the channels. Philo offers three streams at the same time which implies that three people can tune-in to the device at the same time. When you compare the stream with the other pricey packages, this service falls midway with PlayStation Vue offering five, Sling TV offering one to four and DirecTV Now offering two. Philo does not offer profiles currently; so, the saved programs and the viewing history remain same regardless of the viewer.

Are you on the go and keen to watch Philo TV on your mobile device? The service provider only offers a few channels for mobile viewing.

  • Great American Country
  • Cooking Channel
  • DIY Network
  • Travel Channel
  • HGTV
  • Food Network

The company has also provided a boost to the lineup of channels from February with support from Viacom, Discovery, AMC, Scripps-owned networks, and A&E networks.

Support of device

As far as device support is concerned, Philo TV struggled to keep pace with the other service providers. As a matter of fact, the only way to watch the channels for a long time was the Roku platform. Even if you wanted to view the channels on the television, you either needed the Roku TV or the streaming sticks or the boxes of the company. From July 2018, the service is available Amazon Fire TV devices, Fire TV Cube, and Apple TV.

Experience of viewing

During the testing of this service, the service revealed a reasonably good picture quality in different platforms. The picture looks softer than PlayStation Vue and Sling TV. When you navigate through the shows that are available, you will come across a universal platform but the guide for the conventional channels is only available on the website and not on Roku and iOS versions. It is quite clear that Philo TV is focused on the content rather than the channels. Regardless of the channels you are watching, the first thing that comes to notice when you fire the app is the home screen. There are two primary features on the home screen, namely, New & Upcoming and Trending live Shows. While the former allows you know which movies and shows are coming your way, the latter tells you about all those shows that the others love to watch. If you have been watching a particular movie or a show and had to leave in between due to other work, you can pick up from where you started.

Philo TV viewing

You will also come across a Live section that lets you know the programs that are aired currently and everything is organized alphabetically. When the other live streaming television services start with the live stream, Philo offers you the opportunity to go through the content on-demand and lets you skip the live stream if you want.

Bottom Line

Finding the right streaming service may appear a daunting task for the viewers, especially when they are keen to get maximum channels at affordable rates. If you do not mind the limited device option, it offers all the channels with the exception of those for the sports lovers. There is no better time than this if you are planning to cut the cord and switch to the services of the internet television. Fortunately, internet live television services can help you get exactly what you need, to access from the service provider and the best perk you can expect to get is the incredibly low-priced channels as the subscription fees are low beyond your imagination. While the cord cutters were left with little choices in the past, they can now compare the ratings of different live streaming TV services and pick the best to satisfy their viewing experience.

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