in

VIDGO could be an important addition to the video streaming market

As awesome as it is to rid yourself of your cable subscription, cutting the cord still has its downsides, the most-annoying of which is getting access to all of the content you want. One of the benefits of cable packages is that everything you could ever want to watch is included, and there aren’t very many instances of content being exclusive to one cable provider, but that’s not the case with streaming services. What’s worse is that there are several popular channels that don’t allow their content to be streamed at all, which is why Sling TV was so interesting when it was first announced last January, because it offered some major channels that weren’t available to stream before. The problem is, it costs $19.99/month because it doesn’t have much in the way of competition, but a new service by the name of VIDGO wants to change that.

Earlier this week at CES, VIDGO, a new entrant in the increasingly crowded pay TV and alternative TV space, was introduced. The company, helmed by DIRECTV veteran Robert Kostensky, promised “the most channels” from lives linear TV and video on demand, across all platforms, and at a low price. The service will launch in the first half of the year in 15 markets. “VIDGO combines the best of existing online streaming services with live television and VOD,” said Robert Kostensky, VIDGO president and co-founder. “VIDGO is the lowest cost solution to deliver the most expansive catalog of live linear television and VOD to all devices and connected televisions.” If this article seems short on details, it’s not because I’m holding anything back: the announcement noticeably stopped short on which channels would be included and how much the three packages it intends to introduce will cost. Still, VIDGO is interesting because if it does make good on offering channels people actually want to watch, including local channels (noticeably missing from all current streaming upstarts except Sony Vue), at an affordable price, it will provide yet another compelling option for cord cutters. Current pay TV subscribers stand to benefit most from announcements like this. Pay TV companies will be forced to offer more attractive skinny bundles – packages that include less channels at lower prices – which, by the way, they will gladly do as it gives them the leverage with content providers.

 

What do you think?

Avatar of Chastity Mansfield

Written by Chastity Mansfield

I'm a writer, an amateur designer, and a collector of trinkets that nobody else wants. You can find me on Noozeez, and Twitter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings

Netflix wants to replace its five-star rating system

Students of the future might attend their classes in virtual reality