Verizon has a long, tortured history with video. 

How else can you describe a twisting, disjointed 15-year journey, in which the company spent billions laying out fiber and launching a highly sought-after IPTV-based pay TV service, Fios TV, only to abandon it when shareholders lost their nerve amid the Great Recession?

What other words can you use for the billions more the No. 1 U.S. wireless company spent buying companies, technology and content for the very first mobile-first video platform, Go90, only to watch consumers reject it outright?

These days, Verizon’s video strategy has been diminished to marketing third-party streaming platforms including Disney Plus and YouTube TV. How’d Verizon get from there to here?

In the Beginning…

Verizon was borne out of the 2000 merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE, its name a portmanteau of veritas (Latin for "truth") and horizon. 

In 2005, Verizon announced the launch of Fios (a contraction for "fiberoptic service"), a bundled internet, TV and phone offering based on a hugely ambitious plan to beat the cable industry with a $23 billion fiberoptic rollout. 

Launching in Keller, Texas, and nationally promoted with an expensive TV ad campaign featuring action-movie director Michael Bay, Fios debuted with the tagline, “This is Fios. This is big.” 

The Verizon Fios triple-play featured an innovative IPTV-based pay TV service—which would soon be parroted by competitor AT&T and its U-verse platform. Fios TV and its state-of-the-art user interface caught the imagination of key consumer markets, notably New York, where users eagerly anticipated an alternative to the James Dolan-led Cablevision. 

“Fios was greatly anticipated when it first launched, to the point where there were protests where people wanted to try and get Fios into their towns. It was noticeably faster and the TV interface was [better than] everyone else,” said Alan Wolk, co-founder and lead analyst for TV[R]EV.

But the will to keep growing the Fios footprint was gone, culminating in Verizon’s deal to sell a huge chunk of its Fios system to Frontier Communications for $10.5  billion in 2016.  

That deal didn’t work out so well for Frontier. For weeks after the deal was closed in April 2016, the switchover from Verizon’s network to Frontier’s was riddled with outages and increasingly poor service. Frontier later blamed the spotty transition partly on insufficient customer data supplied by Verizon. Frontier filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2020 -- it emerged in April 2021 -- and said it plans to spend about $1.4 billion on expanding its fiber network through 2024.  

Fios TV has been in an accelerating decline for several years, losing about 62,000 video customers in Q2 2021 (144,000 customers in the first half of the year) and  finishing the period with about 3.7 million customers. Since Q2 2016, not including the Frontier deal, Fios TV has lost about 1 million subscribers. 

At the same time, its Fios internet service has gained ground, adding 194,000 high-speed data customers in the first half of 2021, to finish the period with 6.4 million customers. The company has said its trailing 12-month total Fios Internet net additions of 440,000 are its best performance since 2015.  

GoFish

The ebbing of Verizon Fios coincided with another ambitious launch—the highly promoted debut of Go90, Verizon’s pre-Quibi attempt to create a video service aimed at mobile phones. 

Named after the mobile viewing behavior of tilting a smart phone from vertical (profile) to horizontal (landscape) modes, Go90 was launched with huge fanfare by Verizon in 2015, billed as a can’t-miss opportunity for the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier to justify its $4.4 billion purchase of AOL and its copious advanced advertising assets. 

Actually, AOL was among a number of purchases that culminated in the creation of a Verizon operating unit called Oath Brands, which was headed by former AOL chief Tim Armstrong, and ran Go90 into the place many Armstrong business went … into the ground. 

Earlier, in 2014, there was a $200 million acquisition of Intel’s OnCue video tech assets There was the $4.83 billion purchase of online media company Yahoo, and the purchase for an undisclosed sum of Vessel, the online video company founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar. 

Amid anemic audience numbers, Verizon Go90 was discontinued in 2018. Various reports have priced Verizon’s Go90 bath at around $1.2 billion, but who really knows how much higher it goes. Notably, Verizon wrote down its Oath media unit to the tune of $4.6 billion in 2018. 

Also Read: Verizon Set to Double 5G Millimeter Wave Deployments to 60 Cities

At that time, former Ericsson executive Hans Vestberg took over for Lowell McAdam as Verizon CEO, ushering in new priorities (namely 5G) and deemphasizing Verizon’s role as a first-party bundler of video entertainment services. 

'Winning' Without Content

Under Vestberg, Verizon has pulled back from content acquisition and is instead focused on partnerships, such as the agreement with the Walt Disney Company to offer a year of free Disney Plus service to Verizon unlimited wireless customers, as well as Verizon’s Fios fiber internet and 5G fixed wireless subscribers. 

The Disney agreement is similar to one struck by Verizon earlier last year with Google, enabling Verizon to bundle virtual MVPD service YouTube TV along with Fios, fixed 5G and other services. 

On a January earnings call, Vestberg called these partnerships a “win-win” and the strategy “we want to have going forward.”

Verizon hasn’t revealed how much money it’s spent underwriting Disney Plus subscriptions, but the deal appears to have sparked subscriber growth. Verizon added 790,000 unlimited wireless customers in Q4, its biggest increase in six years.

In Q2 2021 Verizon added about 275,000 postpaid wireless phone customers, ending the period with 90.5 million subscribers. 

Verizon further emphasized its commitment to wireless telephony, agreeing to purchase prepaid phone giant Tracfone for $6.25 billion in September 2020. That deal is still being scrutinized by the Federal Communications Commission.  

In November, Verizon got into the OTT device game, quietly launching a new set-top box called Verizon Stream TV, targeted to its fixed 5G customers. 

The device is powered by Google’s Chromecast OTT software interface, with Android TV elements included too, and it features “nearly unlimited” cloud DVR storage space, according to Verizon. Verizon Stream, which retails for $70 and has been given away to Verizon 5G Home customers, also has access to Google Assistant and its voice-control feature.

In addition to providing a platform for its Disney Plus and YouTube TV integrations, Verizon Stream has access to Google Play, so users can download YouTube or pretty much whatever third-party streaming app they want … save for the biggest OTT app of all, Netflix. Indeed, Verizon Stream launched without support for the No. 1 streaming service in the world, causing the tech press to largely scratch its collective head, given the surfeit of OTT device competition that includes Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, just to name a few players. 

Also Read: Verizon Declares Disruption on Cable with 'Mix & Match' Model

In January 2020, Verizon announced a new way in which it bundles its wireline Fios services, allowing customers to choose internet, TV and landline phone services a la carte, and ostensibly eliminating hidden fees and contracts in the process.

The so-called “Mix & Match” model lets consumers pick from three internet speeds: 100 Mbps for $40 a month; 300 Mbps for $60; and 1 Gbps for $80. No contracts are required. 

For video, customers can subscribe to Verizon’s virtual pay TV partner, YouTube TV, and get a month free of the $50-a-month service. 

Or they can choose Fios TV--Verizon is now offering a “test drive’ of its full 425+ channel bundle, allowing customers to pay $50 a month for two months, plus $12 a month per set-top. Once that two-month trial is over, Verizon said it will “recommend” what video package its customers should settle into permanently. 

One option is the “Your Fios TV” bundle, which includes around 125 channels for $50 a month (plus $12 per month per set-top). Subscribers, however, can choose the five cable networks they absolutely have to have. Local access to major broadcast networks are included in all bundles. 

For $70 a month, customers can get the “More Fios TV” bundle, which features around 300 channels, including regional sports networks, and waives the $12 charge for the first set-top. 

The Full Monty is the $90-a-month “The Most Fios TV” package, which is includes more than 425 channels, one set-top gratis and a $12 DVR service credit. 

“Customers have been loud and clear about their frustrations with cable, and we’ve listened. As a result, we’re transforming our approach to Internet and TV offers by giving customers more choices and more transparency,” says Frank Boulben, senior VP of consumer marketing and products at Verizon, in a statement.

Mix and Match received notable praise from one consumer group. “Finally, a major cable company has gotten the message,” said Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel for Consumer Reports, seemingly unaware that Verizon is not a cable company.

Channel Master has formally introduced Stream+, a device powered by Android TV that aims to cater to cord-cutters by integrating support for both OTT apps and TV channels that can be captured for free, over-the-air.

Stream+, a successor to Channel Master’s DVR+ platform, is being offered for the introductory price of $99.

RELATED: Channel Master Nearing Debut of Stream+

And, like that predecessor, Stream+ will not require any subscription fees for its optional DVR capability or integrated program guide.

Stream+ includes two tuners, a USB 3.0 port (for future applications), integrated voice search, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital+ audio support, and 802.11ac WiFi and Ethernet.

Channel Master posted a promotional video for Stream+ that provides a brief walk-through:

Channel Master will announce its full retail price in January, but it’s not expected to be significantly higher than the pre-order price, according to Joe Bingochea, Channel Master’s executive vice president of product development. According to CNET, the final price will be in the neighborhood of $150. 

With Stream+, a 4K/HDR-capable device developed in partnership with Technicolor, Channel Master intends to overcome some hurdles it had encountered with DVR+, as the new platform will support a much richer set of applications and carry a lower price.

DVR+ (Channel Master has sold out inventory for DVR+) had started at $249 for a 16 GB model, and had limited access to OTT apps such as Pandora, Vudu and YouTube. Notably, Sling TV pulled app support for DVR+ just last week.

By comparison, Stream+ will have rights to all apps available via the Google Play store. The exception early on will be Netflix and Amazon Video, which require separate approval from those companies.

“We’re pushing hard to get those done,” Bingochea.

Channel Master’s new offering will also include the Google Live Channels app for integration into the guide of channels that are captured over-the-air, and will support Chromecast built-in functionality and Google Home.

Stream+ users will also be able to add DVR capabilities by installing a MicroSD storage card that works with the Live Channels app (Channel Master worked with EchoStar on that piece for DVR+).  

The device itself will be “headed,” as it connects to the user’s TV via an HDMI cable. Among examples of similar products that target cord-cutters, TiVo’s pricier Roamio OTA is also headed, but the new Tablo Dual is not, as it works in tandem with separate TV-connected devices such as Roku players, Apple TV and Fire TV boxes, Xbox and Nvidia Shield consoles, or with certain smart TVs (including those from LG running WebOS 2.0 or 3.0).

Among other competitors in this arena, Dish Network last week soft-launched a new cord-cutting device under the AirTV brand that doesn’t support a DVR (yet), but does let users access and stream OTA channels in and out of the home he chute. AirTV, another headless device, has developed apps for iOS, tvOS, Android (mobile and TV), Roku players and Amazon Fire TV streamers.

RELATED: Nuvyyo Cuts Price on Tablo Dual

Channel Master is initially offering Stream+ for pre-orders on via its online store and expects to product to be in stock by mid-January. It will also sell product through retail partners.

Channel Master took to Twitter to tease Stream+, a new device that is expected to appeal to cord-cutters by supporting both over-the-top video and over-the-air TV.

Channel Master, which currently targets that group with its DVR+ product line, offered some hints about Stream+ and the timing of its expected debut last week via this tweet:

Something cool is coming in January. :) pic.twitter.com/ZZz6erwPbB

— Channel Master (@ChannelMaster) November 22, 2017

Dave Zatz surmised on his gadget blog, ZatzNotFunny, that Channel Master’s Stream+ is based on the Technicolor Skipper, a 4K-capable Android TV device that bakes in support for voice navigation and OTA TV capabilities.

Specs for the Skipper also include 802.11ac WiFi, a USB 3.0 port for media sharing, and a quad core CPU that provides enough horsepower for higher-end games.

As Zatz points out, Technicolor is also the vendor behind the AirTV Player, an Android TV-powered OTT/OTA combo that Dish debuted earlier this year.

RELATED: AirTV Firmware Update Stitches Over-the-Air Channels to Guide

Bucking a trend amplified by a small but growing cord-cutting trend and the popularity of over-the-top video options, Comcast just came off a first quarter in which the MSO added 53,000 subscribers, its best first-quarter video result in nine years.

While a portion of the credit goes to X1, Comcast’s Internet protocol-capable next-generation video offering, those results are due to a confluence of efforts and initiatives that span not just the core product but also areas such as improved customer care, according to Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable’s executive vice president and general manager, video services.

Multichannel News technology editor and Next TV editor Jeff Baumgartner recently caught up with Strauss to discuss Comcast’s new video products and strategies involving X1, TV Everywhere, its new IP-delivered “Stream” product, and future 4K plans.

Editor's Note: An expanded version of this interview will appear in Multichannel News’s show dailies at this week’s INTX show in Boston.

MCN:As you look at the second half of the year, what are your top priorities?

Matt Strauss: We’re really focused first and foremost on continuing to execute against the deployment of X1. We’re seeing a lot of very positive benefits from X1, both on the churn and on the increased consumption side. We’re now at about 35% penetrated, and it’s even higher if you just look at triple-play subs — about 50% of our triple-play subscribers now have X1.

What goes hand in hand with that is that we also want to finish out the deployment of our cloud infrastructure. We’ve been deploying cloud across our footprint — both cloud streaming and cloud DVR — and we are very close to getting 100% deployment. We want to finish that up by the middle to end of this year.

Finally, we want to continue the penetration and usage of our products and services. We’ve got a very ambitious deployment for our new consolidated Xfinity app. With the upcoming Olympics [in Rio] we want to use that as an opportunity to shine a light on this new application, which we think is a tremendous value to our customers.

Related:INTX 2016: Comcast's Roberts Says No Plans to Take Pay TV Over-the-Top

MCN:With respect to the pay TV momentum, how much credit does X1 get, even as you continue to improve other areas like customer care and customer experience?

MS: It certainly is contributing. When you look at X1, we’re seeing improvements in churn. X1 customers are also consuming more video. They also have a higher attachment rate to DVRs and typically they take additional outlets in their home. There’s no doubt that X1 is contributing, but I don’t know if there’s any one silver bullet.

When it comes to growing the video business, it’s really a combination of several factors and investments that we’ve been making over the past few years, in how we’ve been improving our infrastructure, moving more to IP.

MCN:What kind of usage patterns are you seeing with the Xfinity TV app? Is the big challenge getting the message out to customers so they understand the app’s full capability?

MS: I’d almost characterize it as we’re in a moment in time because we have the Xfinity TV in-home app and we have our Xfinity TV Go app. We are in the process of consolidating those into just one app, which will be the Xfinity TV app. This unification … will provide this unprecedented access to content both in the home and out of the home. And I think those lines are going to continue to get more and more blurred.

When you look at the usage of our app in general, we have about 42% penetration of our mobile app among our double-play customers on a monthly basis. On a quarterly basis, it’s almost 60% who are using one of our apps, and that’s up about 16% year-over-year.

Related:CEO Roberts: Comcast, X1 Ready for Olympics

MCN:What’s next for Comcast with respect to 4K? You’ve got the app for Samsung TVs but we’ve seen some recent reports that you’ll really be focusing more on a strategy that puts an emphasis on High Dynamic Range (HDR)?

MS: While there’s hyper-attention on 4K, when we look at the total video experience, we think 4K is part of the offering. But HDR, which is not necessarily getting the same amount of attention, is in many ways more immersive and, we think, impactful.

Instead of deploying maybe a half-baked solution, which we’re starting to see a little bit of in the market, we thought it was more prudent to deliver the complete experience … and that’s what’s being developed with our Xi6 box, which we’ll be testing this year, but it’s going to really be deployed next year.

MCN:The video market continues to be abuzz about skinny TV bundles. Comcast has been going after that segment with the Stream TV product in some select markets. What have you learned so far, and what’s next on the rollout plan?

MS: In many ways X1, we think, is satisfying the demand for how many of us watch television. The average person watches about 130 hours of video every month.

But there are changes in how other segments are consuming video. When we look at skinny bundles, we believe that they are in some ways a manifestation of the economy as anything else. It’s rare that you hear someone say that they want fewer choices. What’s more likely is that you might hear someone say they want to pay less.

We have been experimenting with skinny bundles and experimenting with ensuring we’re getting the right product to the right customer at the right time in their life, whether that’s Internet Plus or the Xfinity On Campus product, or Stream.

While Stream is, at the moment, comprised of a skinny bundle, the strategies behind Stream are much more around how we’re going to transform the overall end-to-end customer experience, and Stream is just one example of how we are expanding into that terrain.

Taking an enterprise angle on a market made popular by consumer-focused services such as Periscope, a startup called Stre.am said it has optimized its mobile live streaming app for business customers.

Early on, its new live video service platform has netted deals with partners that include The Volvo Car Open, Vainglory (a mobile multi-player game), Arsenic Magazine, and Charleston Battery of the United Soccer League.

Stre.am has also been working with the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is using the platform to boost in-stadium fan engagement by letting fans upload videos to a control room that selects them for display on EverBank Field’s jumbotron.

Stre.am hopes to stand out with from platforms like Facebook Live and Periscope with respect to enterprises with a device-agnostic (including mobile devices and GoPro cameras), white-label strategy that can quickly add live streaming to its partners’ arsenals and to embed that capability into their own web sites and apps, explained Will Jamieson, Stre.am’s chief marketing officer.

Jamieson, an exec who was also on the founding team at Yik Yak (a location-based social network), said Stre.am’s approach, which will be shown at NAB, allows brands and media companies to aggregate content to their own digital properties, and control how it’s being used and distributed.  Under the model, partners go live using Stre.am's general app alongside access to a backend, Web-powered console that allows for customization and control. 

Early on, Strea.am will give the product away to build up use-cases, but is in the process of introducing a business model that sells the product on bandwidth usage and feature sets.

Among other early use cases, The Volvo Car Open is using Stre.am Enterprise to broadcast live video from outer tournament tennis courts, including practice courts.

Stre.am was founded in 2014 and launched a product the following year that was consumer focused. The Charleston, S.C.-based company has about 15 employees and is in the process of raising an “A” round.

Stream, Comcast’s coming $15 per month streaming TV service that will launch first in Boston, shares some similarities with the service that was created by the now-defunct Aereo – it’ll provide  access (in the home, anyway) to major broadcast TV channels and a cloud DVR. On top of that, Stream subs will also get HBO, authenticated TV Everywhere access to some networks, and Streampix, the MSO’s Netflix-like premium multiscreen VOD service.

But it’s different in many ways, too, as Comcast will initially require Stream customers to pair it with a broadband service from MSO, and won’t offer Stream on native connected-TV platforms like Roku streaming players. And, unlike Aereo, there's no over-the-air TV antenna arrays to speak of. 

As for the competitive implications, there’s no indication (yet) that Comcast will go nuclear with this and sell Stream outside its traditional cable footprint and compete directly for video subs with other MSOs.Whether Comcast has the rights to do so...that's another matter entirely. 

And there’s sure lots confusion about how Stream will be delivered into the home, with plenty of stories labeling Stream an OTT service, when it’s really not…at least if you consider, like most do, that OTT means distribution over the public Internet.

Instead, Stream will come into the home through Comcast’s managed IP network, meaning it will be streamed on separately provisioned bandwidth that doesn’t intermingle with that used for the MSO’s high-speed Internet service, and likewise won’t be subject to the usage-based data policies that Comcast is still testing in a few markets.  Stream still requires a cable modem for the IP connectivity (DOCSIS 3.0 modems allow operators to configure the tuners so that some can be used for high-speed Internet service while setting others aside for managed IP services). 

One exception will be the TVE apps that Stream will support out-of-the-home (those will require an Internet or cellular connection, of course), but in many ways, the in-home approach is akin to AT&T U-verse, which dedicates some capacity for the managed IPTV service, and other capacity for its Internet service.

It also matches up from a delivery standpoint with the in-home delivery of the Xfinity TV app for X1 offered on browsers, smartphones and tablets; and the Xfinity TV (VOD-only) app that treats the Xbox 360 like another set-top box. All of that streamed content stays separate from HSD.

And it’s an approach that’s not without some controversy, as some might recall that Netflix compained about the app for the Xbox 360 back in 2012, believing that it violated what were then FCC’s network neutrality rules. The new rules, which view broadband as a Title II service, allow for this sort of specialized service and such practices will be monitored by the Commission on how it affects online video competition, but the expectation is that the approach will at least garner plenty of attention.

“While Comcast does not appear to be doing anything wrong vis-a-vis the new Open Internet Order, given the increasing scrutiny by the FCC and DoJ, this could give regulators even more to dislike about the cable industry,” BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield noted in this blog post (registration required). 

The bigger question in the near term is how well Stream will resonate with the market the service appears to be drawing to -- cord-cutters, cord-nevers and other consumers who are steering clear of big bundles.

Will it cannibalize Comcast’s pay TV base? Probably not to a significant degree, given the service’s inherent limitations (no native support for TV-connected platforms coupled wiht a small lineup). It better cast as a save tactic that can keep customers on a pay TV service while also luring some new customers to the mix.  

“We have a hard time believing Comcast would use Stream as a loss-leader to sell, high-priced (high-margin) standalone broadband as they still fundamentally believe in the video business (just think about their excitement over the X1 platform),” Greenfield wrote. “We suspect Comcast has exceeded the threshold for HBO subscribers they are required to pay HBO on, in turn, additional HBO subscribers are coming on at no-cost to Comcast (at least, as Richard Plepler says until their current contract comes up) – what HBO calls non-revenue generating subscribers.  If our assumption about the subscriber threshold is correct, Stream could be exceedingly profitable for Comcast on its own, let alone when it is tied to high-priced standalone broadband.”

Still, it's too early to know if Stream will have much of an consumer impact (it hasn't even launched yet). But, perhaps, more importantly, it’s represents another weapon that Comcast can wield as it moves ahead with a bigger IP video transition that is touching not only its primary next-gen video service ( X1), but to new products that can be tailored for different segments of the market, including college students (with Xfinity on Campus), as well as others in the hard-to-reach millennials group and others in the small but growing cord-cutter/cord-nevers segment.

If Stream doesn’t resonate, Comcast can simply pull it back and assemble other packages and services that fit with its distribution rights. These are rapidly becoming business, rather than technology-facing, decisions. 

TNT and PGA.com are running deep with their coverage of the 32nd PGA Grand Slam of Golf this week

Teeing off from Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda on Oct. 14 and 15, the event pits the holders of golf's four major championships. This year the field includes Bubba Watson (The Masters), Martin Kaymer (U.S. Open) and Rory McIroy (Open Championship and PGA). And since the world No. 1 captured the last two slams of the year, Jim Furyk, the past major champion and 2008 Grand Slam, has been slected to round out the four-man field.

TNT will provide exclusive coverage on Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the foursome mic'd throughout course play, as well as behind-the-scenes looks from Bermuda. The network's coverage features announcersBrian Anderson (play-by-play) and Ian Baker-Finch (analyst), who played in the event in 1991 as Open Champion, plus Billy Kratzert (course reporter).

The event will also be live-streamed coverage via www.tntdrama.com and the Watch TNT app, as well as through participating TV providers' websites  and apps.  Fans are able to access the PGA coverage whenever and wherever they want by logging in with the user name and password provided by their TV service provider.

PGA.com, the official website of the PGA of America, operated by Turner Sports, will provide exclusive live scoring, live updates and expert analysis on both days. Grand Slam Live will give fans exclusive minute-by-minute updates as well as photos, video, social interaction and expert commentary from the course.  The site also will provide a hole-by-hole course tour, player profiles, photo galleries and daily video highlights.

Established in 1979, the PGA Grand Slam of Golf has grown from an 18-hole, single-day charity event to a 36-hole annual showdown that matches professional golf's best against each other for a $1.35 million purse. This year marks the eighth year the PGA Grand Slam of Golf has originated from Bermuda and the sixth consecutive year it has been played at Port Royal Golf Course.

News/pop culture network Fusion said it will offer a multichannel livestream feed of this weekend’s Lollapalooza music festival.

Fusion will carry Red Bull TV’s digital broadcast of the three-day festival beginning tonight across all of its digital platforms. The multi-channel livestream event will feature 100+ live performances from Chicago’s Grant Park, as well as behind-the-scenes access, exclusive interviews, unique camera angles, and 200+ hours of exclusive content, said network officials.

Performers scheduled to appear during the Aug. 1-3 festival include Eminem, Outkast, Kings Of Leon, Lorde and the Avett Brothers.