Alphabet today announced today that its Google Fiber ISP division will no longer offer TV service to new customers and will instead market virtual pay TV platform fuboTV.
“As we return our focus to where we started—as a gigabit internet company—we’re also ready to challenge the status quo, to finally come right out and say it: customers today just don’t need traditional TV,” reads a Google Fiber blog post. “The best TV is already online. And we want to help you watch it, in the ways that work best for your budget and your own viewing preferences.”
Google Fiber bundled around 150 high-definition and standard-def channels, including ESPN, along with a 2-terabyte DVR that could record eight shows at once. In 2016, Google Fiber announced a major retrenchment, laying off 8% of its staff and pausing its buildout in 11 cities, as VentureBeat noted.
Google Fiber had 68,715 TV subscribers at that time out of a total base of 453,000 customers taking broadband services. Customers could bundle 100 Mbps broadband and TV service for around $130 a month, with a $300 installation fee.
Google Fiber is also phasing out its 100 Mbps service and is only 1 Gbps products in the 18 regions it still operates.
As for fuboTV, it’s base-priced at $55 a month, offering over 100 channels, some of them with 4K, and 500 hours of virtual DVR storage.
Google Fiber also recently entered a deal with Google to sell virtual MVPD YouTube TV to customers when they sign up for broadband service.
“This is particularly exciting for sports fans—fuboTV offers more than 35,000 live sporting events each year,” Google Fiber said in its post. “And you can also watch popular TV shows, movies and news on fuboTV—their base package alone has more than 100 live channels and more than 30,000 TV episodes and movies on demand every month. You also get cloud DVR and the ability to stream simultaneously on multiple screens.”
