T-Mobile is launching their new pay TV offering called TVision. With a growing list of new competitors, will this be successful? Let’s take a look at the growing industry, the new and existing competitors and the secret to a successful pay TV service in these changing times.
Pay TV has changed quite a bit during the last decade. Yesterday, a single cable TV provider like Comcast, Charter, Altice, DirecTV or Dish were the only choices. Today, things are very different.
Today, AT&T TV, Verizon FiOS and many others are part of a growing number of options. With Amazon TV, Hulu, Facebook TV and more, we are in the very early years of the great pay TV revolution that will completely change what we used to know as cable TV.
Going forward cable TV will be called pay TV
Pay TV has been changing and growing over the last decade. Technology has changed from cable TV to IPTV and wireless pay TV. Today, this sector is increasingly called pay TV, not cable TV.
There are so many new competitors and competitive technologies in this space. Today, Comcast with Xfinity and NBC Universal, and AT&T with AT&T TV, DirecTV, WarnerMedia and more are the number one and two players in the space.
Charter Spectrum and Altice are also strong players in this space on the cable TV side. Verizon FiOS is also a competitor coming from the phone company side.
All these providers are now offering a similar bundle of services including wireless, telephone, pay TV, Internet and more.
5G wireless pay TV is next big technology change wave
Pay TV has been changing significantly during the last several years. New technology in pay TV like IPTV are changing everything and 5G wireless pay TV will continue to expand the space and increase the competition.
Today, we see brand new streaming services like HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+ and Peacock rapidly gaining market share.
These join others like Facebook TV, YouTube TV, Amazon TV, Hulu, Netflix and others who are all rapidly changing their corner of the pay TV space.
The next, big thing in pay TV is wireless pay TV. In fact, 5G wireless pay TV. We can expect players like AT&T and Verizon to be players in this space with their AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless services.
We should also expect cable TV players like Comcast, Charter and Spectrum to be competitors in this area since they resell wireless services. However, we haven’t heard much from them in this area year.
T-Mobile launching TVision to pay TV industry
And this is where T-Mobile TVision fits in. This is a brand-new service, even though T-Mobile has been hinting about it for years.
Wireless pay TV is a brand-new space. It has been around for a few years, but the small-time providers have not made a dent in the competitive marketplace yet.
This will change as larger wireless carriers enter the space like AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.
Over recent years, I have talked with senior executives of traditional cable TV providers about this threat and they mostly seem to be ignoring it, at least publicly.
That is a concern. Wireless pay TV will be an important player in the space and today’s leaders must prepare for it if they want to continue to lead and not fall back.
Wireless pay TV is a threat to conventional cable TV
Players who offer a variety of different access methods stand the best chance to show growth in these areas. If they can offer a service which is delivered on all venues, like Internet and wireless, in my opinion have a great chance to thrive in coming years.
T-Mobile has no history in pay TV, so we simply do not know how they will do with this new service. I hope they hit a home run. In fact, I hope all competitors do well in this new area.
T-Mobile TVision has not history of success yet
That being said, we all know only a few will be successful right out of the gates. Others will struggle and then eventually get on the right track. While still others will continue to struggle not realizing the growth potential of this new space.
Where will T-Mobile TVision fit in this new world? I am glad they have finally entered the pay TV space. In fact, I hope they are successful. I hope all players are successful.
This next innovation wave could be amazing to watch, to use and to invest in.
However, we’ll just have to wait and see how T-Mobile does over the next several months to get our first glimpse of them in this new world and whether they will be a real successful player or not. Stay tuned.
