WEBVTT - How Philo Keeps Pace in the Virtual MVPD Race 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:11.079 Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:13.560 which we talked with some of the brightest minds working 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.479 in media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety. For just 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.720 twenty dollars a month, Filo offers consumers more than sixty 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.240 cable channels. It's a simple value proposition that has helped 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.320 this venture stand out in a crowded marketplace of so 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.760 called virtual m v p d s, and as Filo 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:35.239 CEO Andrew McCollum explains, he's not about to make the 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.120 mistake that has the prices of many of his competitors. 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.479 Thanks for talking to me, Andrew, Thanks for having me. 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.960 So I'm curious, how are those numbers looking now in 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:49.319 and what is the pandemic meant in terms of your 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:53.320 subscriber base and keeping that going. Yeah, I'd love to 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.480 talk about that. UM. We actually just passed eight hundred 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.320 thousand subscribers recently, so we are tracking a law. I 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:05.000 think that we've definitely seen a significant surge of growth 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:10.880 UM this year around, particularly during March, April, May June, 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.160 sort of the shelter and place period that was driving 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.240 a lot of people to spend a lot more time 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:20.280 indoors and consuming entertainment services. We definitely benefited from that. 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.560 I think, you know, as we kind of look ahead, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.160 we really start to think about, well, you know, if 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:31.600 there's gonna be a longer term economic impact from the 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.440 coronavirus pandemic, is that going to hurt the economy? And 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:37.880 how do we you know, we've always tried to position 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.319 ourselves as a really low cost, high value service. Um, 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:43.840 we really think that we give you a lot for 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:47.840 twenty dollars. You know, we include sixty channels and you know, 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.800 an unlimited DVR and three streams, and you can use 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.040 it on any device. And you know, I think that 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.880 in that climate, we think that, you know, we're very 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:01.200 well positioned. As people are looking to control their budget, um, 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.360 you know, control of the cost of what they're spending 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.800 on entertainment. Filo is a really good option, um in 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.040 the mix if you're looking to get a lot of 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.440 great content at a at a really fair price. But 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:16.000 this virtual m v P D space that you're in 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.640 is it's got a lot of players in it. Uh. 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.639 The good thing is you're one of the cheaper options, 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.520 but a lot of these players have also really run 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.840 into a lot of trouble, and I'm curious, what do 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.520 you think has kept you from running into that trouble 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:36.240 as well. Well. I think it's probably fair to say 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:40.280 that essentially every other service in this space came to 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:45.520 market with an offering that was significantly under price relative 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:49.360 to a price that would actually make it, you know, 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:55.200 a margin positive, functional, long term business. UM. I think 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:56.640 a lot of this can be chalked up to the 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:59.920 fact that almost every other company who's launched a stir 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.880 this a virtual cable service, has taken a focus on 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:08.480 broadcasting sports, and that content um brings a much higher 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:13.000 cost along with it, and so delivering those services at 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.320 a palatable price point was really difficult to do. You know, 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.200 in the time that we've been launched, you know, our 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:22.440 twenty dollar package is the same twenty dollars it was 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.480 when we launched, except it has a bunch more channels, 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.519 and that same period of time, you know, YouTube tv 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.919 has gone from uh thirty five dollars to sixty five 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.680 dollars um. And I think that's a reflection of this 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.120 challenge that they all came into the market with really 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:44.240 under pricing their services. UM. Whether that was sort of 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.160 you know, I mean, the sort of cynical view of 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:48.800 that is they're trying to get a bunch of people 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.680 in the door so they can sort of aggressively raise 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:56.320 the price later. UM. You know, the more favorable interpretation is, 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.160 you know, that's just the price they thought they had 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.400 to offer it at. But either way, I think that 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:05.560 trying to kind of unwind that has been pretty challenging 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.400 and painful for a lot of the other services in 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.280 the space. We really approached it from a different perspective. 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.960 You know. We focused on this entertainment lifestyle knowledge category 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.080 not just because we felt like it was unique in 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.719 the market. There weren't other places you could go to 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:24.159 get this selection of content without paying a huge price 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.680 for broadcasting sports, but also we felt like we could 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.320 bring it to market at a fair price point that 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:34.120 we can stand behind and not sort of be forced 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.080 to raise prices significantly on our customers, on our subscribers 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:42.320 in order to actually make the business work. And that's 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.919 why we've been able to maintain you know, basically the 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:49.159 same pricing UM since we launched UH and we feel 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.560 like that's put us in a great position to continue 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.000 growing quickly and offering something UM that's really honest and 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:58.400 fair to consumers, and and that's resonated, Well, are you 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.520 going to be able to hold it that price point? 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.479 It seems that the pitfall so many of your competitors 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.120 have run into is they try to add more channels, 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.400 their costs go up. So or are you gonna stick 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:12.320 to twenty dollars no matter what? Or is it inevitable 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:16.279 your price goes up as you seek to add more channels. Yeah. 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.760 I mean there's two factors that really drive price UM. One, 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.680 as you mentioned, is adding additional content to the package. UM. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.520 I'd say that we feel pretty good about the package 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.240 of content we offer. Now. There's definitely things we intend 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:34.200 to add, but we don't currently anticipate adding big categories 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.279 of channels that will drive costs in our current based package. 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.360 The things that will add are more in the category 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:44.960 of UM you know, ad supported content, UH you know, 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:50.200 premium add ons, UH, Spot offerings, etcetera. That are either 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.080 all the card offerings to consumers or don't drive additional 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.520 programming cost in the base package. UM. But the other 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:01.559 cause of price increases are the annual increases in costs 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:04.760 that are built into programming contracts. UM. You know, I 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.520 think you know, the average programming contract includes an annual 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.760 increase in the cost of the content, you know, say, 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.200 roughly five to eight percent a year. Um. You know, 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.280 just to put that in context, you know, that's higher 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.760 than the annual increase in the cost of housing, healthcare, 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:24.760 and higher education, which are normally cited as the three 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:29.839 most egregiously increasing cost you know, parts of the economy. UM. 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.400 Television programming cleans the floor with all of them. UM. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.920 So look, we're not um impervious to rising costs. Are 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.880 programming deals have anyone increases built into them? So I 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.839 can't sit here and guarantee that our price will never 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:45.599 go up. But I do think that we have put 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:50.320 much more emphasis on, uh, you know, keeping the price low, 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:52.880 not just through the choices we made around programming, but 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:56.240 also we operate the company very leanly. Our company is 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.120 eighty five people, and I'm pretty sure you know that 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:03.520 any other streaming company is probably uh, you know, multiples 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:06.880 of that, if not orders of magnitude that size. UM. 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.280 Some of these other companies probably place may lawyers as 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.280 we have employees. UM. We also build all of the 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:15.000 technology ourselves, and that helps us to keep the cost 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.239 down because we can reduce our infrastructure and overhead cost 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.640 really significantly because we've created basically all the tech we 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:26.840 use UM in house. So I think that UM, well 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:29.480 we you know, I can't say that the price of 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:31.600 file will never go up. We definitely put a lot, 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:33.720 a lot, a lot of effort into trying to keep 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:35.560 it as low as we can and and and not 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.200 and not raise the price. You've done that in part because, 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:44.160 as you've mentioned, uh, no broadcast, no sports. You're also 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.960 missing some of the top news names. So uh, you know, 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.680 those are some pretty big gaps. I would imagine there's 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.520 gonna be a big chunk of the marketplace that's not 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:57.320 going to go for your product because that's missing. So really, 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.840 who is your customer base? Who out there doesn't want 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.240 these kind of things? Maybe it's a bigger market than 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.160 some might realize. Yeah, I mean around the time we 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:10.680 launched UM, several outside independent analysts, without any involvement by 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.800 us UM studied this idea of an entertainment driven package, 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.240 and most of them pegged the number of US households 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.080 that were interested in this type of package somewhere in 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:26.200 the fifteen to twenty million households range. So we're obviously 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.120 nowhere close to that. We think there's a lot of 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.560 room to grow and and to to become quite a 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.839 significant size service just with the category of content we have. 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:37.800 But I actually think that it's a bit of a 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:42.160 mistake to peg filos market as simply those subscribers, because 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.439 there's a lot of other ways to get value out 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:49.000 of Filo. For example, a lot of people combine Filo 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:53.440 with other spot services like Netflix, Disney Plus who lose 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.200 v O D service, Amazon Prime, inst and Video. You 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.280 can kind of build your own package out of a 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:03.000 bunch of these olive cart Spot offerings and Filo, and 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:04.920 you know, still be paying a lot less than you 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.079 would be for traditional cable. You know, adding multiple ten 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.320 to twenty dollar month add ons on top of a 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.920 twenty dollar month TV package is a lot more economically 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:16.960 viable than adding those same add ons on top of 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:21.000 a hundred and twenty dollar month TV package, which is like, um, 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.040 you know what the average direct TV customer pays for example, Um, 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:28.079 you know, I think that other than that, there's also 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:32.720 the opportunity to pair Filo with over the air broadcast antenna. 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.240 You know, here in San Francisco, you can get seventy 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.280 channels over the air. Uh, And so with Filo you 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:41.840 can get twenty channels for twenty bucks a month. It's 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.959 a really good deal if you're looking to really um, 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.480 if you're really budget conscious and cut your cost. And 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:49.440 there's a lot of great you know, a lot of 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.920 the news and sports content you can get for free 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.120 over the air. So that's a great option for people. 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:56.360 I think that also, I would say that, you know, 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.920 we don't have any in air bias against broadcast and sport. 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.600 We would love to offer those networks if we can 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:04.680 do it in a way that preserves the kind of 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:09.200 choice and flexibility we think that customers demand. Uh. And 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:11.520 I think that I'm hopeful that we'll get there eventually, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.720 but you know, I think that, uh today, we haven't 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.840 been able to make make it work well, certainly given 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.600 the state of the economy in this country right now. 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.760 Something as budget conscious is what Filo is doing, I 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.600 think is going to resonate. But on that same point, 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.520 up until very recently, you guys were the cheapest option 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:34.480 along comes T Mobile, which very recently launched a ten 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:39.880 dollar thirty something channel offering. What do you think about 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:44.360 you know, the possibility that we could see others come 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.360 in and undercut you. Is there some some area there 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.600 to play that you guys might not have anticipated could 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.520 become into market. Well, look, we've never really defined our 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.680 service as being the lowest cost TV service. Um. You know, 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.360 I think that we want to be a good value 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.400 to people. We want to deliver you know, a great 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.280 a lot of content and functionality for the price you're paying. 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.520 And we think we do that today with the price, 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.720 uh that we're at. But you know, we're not really 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.760 focused on being the cheapest. We really want to be 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.400 a great service for the price you pay, no matter 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:24.840 what that price is. Um. You know, I think that 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:28.160 the offering from T Mobile is really interesting. You know, 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.280 this idea of splitting broadcasting sports just getting to the 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.040 point I was just mentioning, makes a ton of sense. Um, 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.760 you know, I think it's really uh, that is the 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.040 direction that the TV Bundle needs to move it. In 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.000 our opinion, Um, if we were gonna offer broadcasting sports, 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:44.719 I think we would really seek to do it as 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:47.640 a separate package. So that part is really smart. And 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.480 hats off to them for for doing it. Now they 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:51.960 seem to be in a bit of hot water with 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.839 their programmer and partners. So, UM, maybe the approach they 0:11:55.840 --> 0:12:02.520 took wasn't quite um uh calculated just exactly right. But UM, 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:06.280 in spirit, I think that um, the concept makes sense. 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.280 You know, I think that comparing the prices directly isn't 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.840 exactly fair. They don't include DVR for ten dollars, so 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.440 you're you're paying an extra five dollars for that, and 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.240 it's not an unlimited DVR, it's only a hundred hours, 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.600 and you know, like also you only get two streams 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.319 instead of three, so and it's not available on Roku 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.679 and so, and it's only available a T Mobile postpaid customers. 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:30.880 So there's a lot of caveats to get to the 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:33.920 you know, to the price that they launched at. UM. 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.120 And so look, I think that we still feel really 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.440 good about where we are in the market, and you know, 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.840 maybe someone will come along and and undercut us on price, 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.120 and I think that, UM, we really try to focus 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:46.920 not on what other people are doing, but on what 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:49.800 we're doing and just try to deliver the best service 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.520 we can and you know, kind of let that speak 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.200 for itself. Well, but you can't ignore the competition. And 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:59.800 I'm curious whether you know, some describe it, I guess 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.359 as a different products set. But these free ad supported 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:07.480 streaming services like Pluto, there's a number of them out there. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.760 Do you see them as competitors because of course what 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.400 they're providing is absolutely free. Yeah, not really. There's a 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.760 lot of people who that's another uh point. Actually, a 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.200 lot of people combine those free unsupported services with Filo 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.320 and very happy to to use both. Um. You know, 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.320 I think ultimately, um, they're much more synergistic than they 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:32.000 are competitive. Um. As I mentioned, we are looking to 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.439 bring more of that content within Filo. Would be great 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.760 to offer it within the same app and experience, and 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.920 I think that, um, there's a lot of opportunity there. 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:43.760 Um Ultimately, Uh, you know, the free content is great. 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.920 I'm a big fan of that strategy and think that 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.959 it again, it makes a ton of sense. Um, but 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:53.200 you know, there's a lot of uh, you just aren't 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.319 gonna be able to offer the full range of content 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:58.319 at free. It's just not a price point that works 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:02.559 for the economics of television to to have everything be 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.640 available for their at that price. So I think that 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:07.360 there's gonna be a lot of people who are gonna 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.520 want you know, more premium offerings and and so it 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.760 would be great to pair those things together to say, look, 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.880 we've got a selection of the as supported content for 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.160 people who want that. We also have options, uh, you know, 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.560 at really fair prices above that for those who want 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.920 to add more premium content, and you can get one 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.000 or the other. You can start one place, go to 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.160 the you know, you can start it free and go 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:32.680 to paid. You can start to paid and go to 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.200 free if if you feel like it, and really just 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:37.360 give people a lot of ability to kind of pick 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.240 what makes sense for that. You guys recently announced a 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:45.960 partnership with best buy where uh, customers who buy various 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:50.960 streaming products that come to that retailer will get I 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.680 think it's one month free of file. Oh how important 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.240 are those kind of partnerships when you're trying to crack 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:02.520 this marketplace. In the long term, I think they're very important. UM. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.680 I don't think it's been a huge driver of adoption 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.720 of our service or or other services to date, but 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.680 I think in the long term, UM, I'm very optimistic 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.920 about those kinds of partnerships because I think that this 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.000 still the single largest barrier to people adopting streaming TV 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.480 like services like Filo is just the complexity of it. 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.240 I mean, I think that those of us who are 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.960 in this space, you know, day and day out, Uh, 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.080 it seems very straightforward. We're like, oh, well, you just 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:33.800 like get a Roku and then you go on the 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.520 channel store and you get the Filo app and you 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.240 sign up and you're off to the races. But for 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.040 I think the average you know consumer out there, they're like, well, 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.600 which thing do I get? Do I get a Roku 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.760 or a fire TV or or a Google TV? But 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.720 I thought that was Chromecast And how is it different now? 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.120 And or or maybe I get an Apple TV and 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.080 what's the different Like why is one and one thirty 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.840 dollars and what's the difference? Or maybe my tv R 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.080 does it? I thought I got a smart TV three 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.200 years ago, so you know what does that mean? And 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.920 and then they're like, okay, well I want to replace 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.640 these channels, but which services do I need? I want 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.600 the entertainment networks from Philo, but I want the sports 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.640 networks from someone else, um, you know, but also I 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.960 want you know, uh, Peacock and HBO Max, but that's 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.720 not available on you know, it's very confusing to people, 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:25.240 you know. And you know, for all the things you 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.200 can say about traditional cable that are bad, and there 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.360 are many, uh, there's a lot that's bad about traducial cable, 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.840 the one part of it that's really great is you know, 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.880 it's a pain to call them on the phone and 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:39.440 and schedule like an eight hour block when they're gonna 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:43.040 come to your house. But when that cable installer comes, 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.240 they set everything up, They put the box in your TV, 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:48.720 they connect all the wires, they put the batteries in 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.440 the remote, they test it all out, and when they leave, 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:53.880 you pick up the remote, you press the power button 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.400 and your TV comes on and it's playing and it works. Um. 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.479 And that is like actually and an amazingly underrated experience 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:04.479 that you know as a consumer. It's literally you know, 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.679 brain list to to get it to get it working. 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.080 And we do not have that right now in streaming 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.399 TV that I believe is the single biggest bearer to 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.439 people adopting these services. So if we can build these 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:18.720 kinds of relationships with retailers like best Buy, who have 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:23.080 you know, they have tech support, they haven't they have installers, 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:26.520 they have you know, salespeople in the store who can 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:29.320 explain the options and how it works and help you 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.840 get set up. You know, that is a huge win 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:36.600 over time because we can basically recreate the ease of 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.359 the cable installer, uh, you know, in the streaming space, 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.880 and I believe that in the long term that will 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:47.680 be absolutely vital. Was curious is international on the philoh 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.480 road map? Could we see you guys in in Europe 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:54.520 or elsewhere? Do you see much products of your type 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.280 out in these markets that you're not in yet? Yeah? 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.960 I mean I think that, um, a lot of the other. 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.960 Every TV market is sort of unique and has its 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:06.960 own dynamics that you need to understand. I think we 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:10.080 we have, Uh, we're obviously most focused on the US 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.000 and think that there's a lot of room to grow here. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.159 We have looked at launching in some international markets, and 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:18.760 I think that, um, it's more likely than not that 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.919 we will go in that direction in the relatively near future. 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:26.560 You know, I think that the way TV content is licensed, 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.080 you know, it's quite smart that Netflix has been able 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.439 to build this international library of content, whereas most of 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:37.040 the traditional TV content tends to be licensed out market 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.040 by market in a very piecemeal fashion. That makes it 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:44.439 actually much more challenging to UM grow services internationally, you know, 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:48.640 like UM even if you look across the border from 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.480 like the US to Canada, there's a lot of TV 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.480 networks that have the exact same name but totally different 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:58.840 content lineup, totally different content strategy and approach UM. And 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.760 that makes it really ch lenging to build a globalized 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.600 service because we would love to have the brands and 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.639 channels are on Filo be available everywhere and have it 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.760 be consistent and and have it have the same meaning 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:14.680 to consumers, but it doesn't UM. So I think that's 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:17.439 a challenge. I think they will overcome that, UM, but 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:21.560 it does make the international growth piece UH much more, 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.440 much more challenging. And you know, I think that UM 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.680 definitely like the economics of each different market are are 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:29.879 you know, are are something to be considered as well. 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:34.080 You know. Filo, of course, is is very reliant on 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:40.680 all these US cable brands that in their day we're 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:44.359 you know, had the very best programming out there. You 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:46.920 fast forward to though, and it seems like a lot 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:51.680 of the content companies behind those UH networks are putting 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.760 more and more energy into their streaming services content that 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:59.119 you're not necessarily gonna get your hands on. Is that 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:02.080 a concern for you in the long term. I think 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:06.359 it's some concern, But there I think there's different approaches 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:08.760 in this space. There are some that are taking approach 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.199 where they want to make it much more complementary to 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:15.200 the content that's available on traditional TV. You know, for example, 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.800 UM Disney obviously took that approach with Disney Plus and 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:21.479 in the ESPN Plus. I think there's a lot in 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:24.040 terms of what AMC is doing that's very similar to that, 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:26.119 where it's sort of a premium upgrade to what you 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.520 get on the traditional UM TV service. Uh, that's great 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.080 from our perspective, it's another we we love to offer 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:36.399 those things through filo and give people more options. I 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.960 think that there is definitely um an emphasis that Wall 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.560 Street is placing on the successity services that's causing companies 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:45.600 to really feel like they need to go out and 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.760 try to make them successful to kind of buoy their 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.399 stock price. UM I'm not sure that necessarily translates to 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:54.919 what makes the most sense in the long term, and 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:59.640 so you know, ultimately I'm not I feel like the 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.600 model all that a lot of are pursuing today, UM 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:06.920 will change and so UM for that reason, I wouldn't 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:10.639 say we're like overly concerned about it. Um. You know, 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:14.040 the traditional ecosystem provides a lot of value uh and 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:16.000 makes a lot of sense on a bunch of different 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:21.520 economic and user experience dimensions. And so I think that ultimately, UM, 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.399 you'll end up with something that's more of a blend 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:28.040 that's in between again, like perhaps like the main channels 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:29.880 are on filow and then you can sort of get 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:31.600 the you can add on to that and get a 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:34.280 deeper experience through kind of upgrading to one of these 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.600 plus you know offerings as well. UM. But we'll see, 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:39.320 you know, it'll be interesting to see how it all 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:44.280 all plays out. One last question, what will this new 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.600 year mean for Filoh? Is this going to be a 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:49.960 big year for you guys? Yeah, I mean every year 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.840 we try to make a big year where you know, 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:55.879 fast Gregg startups, so we are always starting to kind 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.080 of move as quickly as we can. I do think 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:00.439 that kind of that one way. The one thing that 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:03.520