Vidgo

Last updated
Vidgo
Industry Pay television
Founded2018
FounderShane Cannon
FateIndefinite outage, due in part to unpaid bills
HeadquartersSalt Lake City, Utah
Key people
Derek Mattsson (CEO), Bill Feininger (COO)
Services Streaming television

Vidgo was an American streaming television service that offered over 100 channels of English- and Spanish-language sports, news and general entertainment content. In addition to its live television packages, Vidgo offered a cloud-based digital video recorder and thousands of hours of on-demand programming.

Contents

History

Vidgo launched in 2018 [1] as a streaming service focused on professional sports, primarily soccer, [2] to cord cutters. Over time, the service expanded to include agreements with major television content providers, including A+E Networks, the Walt Disney Company, Fox Corporation, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures Television and the Discovery side of the Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio of channels. Their number of subscribers was estimated to be between 25,000 and 100,000 as of 2021. [3]

In 2022, the company hired a new executive leadership team [4] [5] and revamped its mission to provide entertainment, news and sports of interest [6] to the heartland of the United States. [7] It also relaunched its streaming app with a new color palette, logo and other interface improvements. [8]

In April 2023, Vidgo quietly raised the prices of two English-language packages. [9] The price put Vidgo on the same footing as YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and Fubo TV.

Indefinite Outage

In November of 2023, they suffered an outage due to missed payments to vendors, which led them to pursue new forms of funding. [10] In January of 2024, Vidgo stopped billing their customers due to the length of the outage, but customers could continue to use their credentials to log into TV Anywhere apps to watch the content they had previously been paying for. [11] The following month, the access to TV Anywhere access was removed, and Vidgo announced they were in talks for a merger or strategic partnership, although there appear to be no updates since this announcement. [12]

Programming partners

Vidgo had a number of programming partners that offered live channels and on-demand content through the service, including:

Supported devices

Vidgo was available on most popular smart television devices, including:

Channels and on-demand content were available to stream through most popular web browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, via the Vidgo website.

Related Research Articles

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as television series and films, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable television, and/or satellite television systems, streaming television is provided as over-the-top media (OTT), or as Internet Protocol television (IPTV). In the United States, streaming television has become "the dominant form of TV viewing."

Xumo, LLC is an American internet television and consumer electronics company. It is a joint venture of Charter Communications and Comcast that operates the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and advertising video on demand (AVOD) service Xumo Play, and develops digital media players and smart TVs. The Xumo Play platform's service operations are based in the Orange County suburb of Irvine, California. As of October 2020, Xumo Play has 24 million monthly active users.

YouTube TV is an American Internet Protocol television service operated by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, which in turn is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Announced on February 28, 2017, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor offers a selection of live linear channel feeds and on-demand content from more than 100 television networks and over 30 OTT-originated services, as well as a cloud-based DVR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Everywhere</span> Authentication for streaming video

TV Everywhere refers to a type of American subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themselves as current subscribers to the channel, via an account provided by their participating pay television provider, in order to access the content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FanDuel Sports Network app</span> Fanduel Sports Networks over-the-top service

The FanDuel Sports Network app is the video streaming service of FanDuel Sports Network. The service is available for customers of select cable and satellite TV providers.

PlayStation Vue was an American streaming television service that was owned by the Sony Interactive Entertainment subdivision of the Sony Corporation of America division of Sony. Launched with a limited major-market rollout on March 18, 2015, the service – which was structured in the style of a multichannel video programming distributor – combined live TV, on-demand video, and cloud-based DVR to stream television programs, movies, and sporting events directly to a PlayStation console or other supported device – including smart TVs, digital media players and apps – without a subscription to a cable or satellite television provider. Targeting cord cutters, PlayStation Vue was designed to complement subscription video-on-demand services. As of August 26, 2018, the service had approximately 745,000 subscribers. On October 29, 2019, Sony announced PlayStation Vue would be ending service on January 30, 2020, because "the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sling TV</span> American streaming television service

Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aims to complement subscription video on demand services for cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and OTT-originated services that can be streamed through smart TVs, digital media players and apps. The service is available in the United States and Puerto Rico as of 2015.

HBO Now was an American subscription video on demand streaming service for premium television network HBO owned by WarnerMedia subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc. Officially unveiled on March 9 and launched on April 7, 2015, the service allowed subscribers on-demand access to HBO's library of original programs, films and other content on personal computers, smartphones, tablet devices and digital media players. Unlike HBO Go, HBO's online video on demand service for existing subscribers of the linear television channel, HBO Now was available as a standalone service and did not require a television subscription to use, targeting cord cutters who use competing services such as Netflix and Hulu. In February 2018, HBO Now had 5 million subscribers.

Tubi, Inc. is an American over-the-top content platform and free ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020, and in 2023 it, Credible Labs, and a few other Fox digital assets were placed into a new division known as the Tubi Media Group. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pluto TV</span> Internet-based TV platform

Pluto TV is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DirecTV Stream</span> Streaming pay TV service provider

DirecTV Stream is a premium streaming multichannel television service offered in the United States by DirecTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FuboTV</span> American streaming television service

FuboTV Inc., operating as FuboTV or Fubo, is an American streaming television service serving customers in Canada, Spain, and the United States and based in Midtown Manhattan. The network focuses primarily on channels that distribute live sports. Depending on the country it is accessed in, channels offered by Fubo include access to the Premier League, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, CPL, and international football, as well as news, network television series, and movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Local Now</span> American subscription television network

Local Now is an American over-the-top internet television service owned by The Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Entertainment Studios. A spinoff of The Weather Channel, Local Now primarily provides a cyclic playlist of weather, news, sports, entertainment and lifestyle segments, incorporating localized content through feeds geared to a user-specified area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DisneyNow</span> Website and former mobile video app for multiple Disney television stations

DisneyNow is a TV Everywhere platform offered by Disney Branded Television. The service offers programming from Disney Channel, Disney Jr, and Disney XD for subscribers to the three networks on television providers.

Spectrum TV Stream is an American over-the-top internet television service owned by Charter Communications. The service – which is structured as a virtual multichannel video programming distributor – is only available to Charter Spectrum internet customers. It is designed as an alternative to other competing OTT skinny bundles for cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and on-demand content that can be streamed through smart TVs, digital media players, and mobile apps.

Stirr is an American ad-supported video streaming service owned by Thinking Media. The streaming service is available on the web and via apps for iOS, Android devices and various streaming TV devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Android TV. Stirr's slogan is, "the new free TV."

Frndly TV is an American streaming television service that offers live TV, on demand video and cloud-based DVR for over 40 live television networks. Frndly TV has a channel lineup with a focus on family-friendly programming, and includes U.S. networks Hallmark Channel, The Weather Channel, A&E, History, Lifetime, MeTV, MeTV+, MeTV Toons, Story Television, and Up TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haystack News</span> OTT platform for news videos

Haystack News is a free ad-supported streaming service for local, national and international news video available on smart TVs, over-the-top platforms and mobile apps. Haystack uses data from each user—such as location, topics of interest and favorite publishers—to create a personalized playlist of short news clips. The platform also hosts live channels from local, national and international news outlets.

The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the U.K. It was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. As of 2023, the service leads U.S. viewership for free ad-supported streaming television (FAST), reporting 120 million viewers.

Free advertising-supported streaming television (FAST) is a category of streaming television services which offer traditional linear television programming and studio-produced movies without a paid subscription, funded exclusively by advertising akin to over-the-air or cable TV stations. Platforms following this model include Pluto TV, Rakuten TV, The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi, and Xumo. These services stand apart from platforms predominantly featuring user-generated content, as well as from subscription-based services. The term was coined by Alan Wolk to differentiate the category in a December 2018 article in TVREV.

References

  1. ↑ Munson, Benjamin (October 30, 2018). "Vidgo jumps into the vMVPD fray with soft launch of streaming TV service". Fierce Video. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Vidgo offers soccer fans another low-cost streaming alternative". World Soccer Talk. August 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  3. ↑ "YouTube TV Has 5 Million Subscribers... Or do They?". 14 July 2022.
  4. ↑ Keys, Matthew (2022-10-17). "Vidgo announces new executive leadership, expanded tech capabilities (Press release)". The Desk. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  5. ↑ Reading 10/17/2022, News Wire Feed Light. "Vidgo appoints new CEO and COO". Light Reading. Retrieved 2022-10-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Staff, S. V. G. (2022-09-12). "Vidgo Relaunches With More College Football Than Any Other Streaming Service". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  7. ↑ Keys, Matthew (September 7, 2022). "Vidgo chases Middle America cord-cutters with college sports, news". Fierce Video. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  8. ↑ Keys, Matthew (2022-11-13). "Vidgo rolls out refreshed app with new design, logo and colors". The Desk. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  9. ↑ Bouma, Luke (2023-04-10). "Vidgo Raises The Price of Their Live TV Streaming Service". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  10. ↑ Keys, Matthew (2023-11-21). "Vidgo outage triggered by missed payments to vendors, company works to secure new funding | StreamTV Insider". www.streamtvinsider.com. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  11. ↑ Bouma, Luke (2024-01-24). "Vidgo Stops Billing Customers But Lets Them Still Use Their Logins to Watch ESPN, FS1, and More For Free". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  12. ↑ Cheng, Roger (2024-02-13). "Vidgo is Still Down and Just Suspended its TV Everywhere Logins, But is Closer to Finding a Lifeline". Cord Cutters News. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.