Verizon on Sunday is launching a more personalized television viewing experience.
The company's new FiOS Custom TV plan allows new and existing customers to choose a bundle of channels they actually want, rather than paying for 300+ channels they rarely watch.
"We listened to what our customers want—millennials, cord shavers, cord cutters—and delivered Custom TV—an industry first," a Verizon spokeswoman told PCMag.
Custom TV is not exactly an a la carte option, but it moves in that direction. Instead of letting users pick and choose their own lineup of channels, Verizon will offer pre-curated packages.
Starting at $55 per month, the Custom TV service is available in three pricing grids—standalone (no Internet for $54.99), double play (TV and Internet starting at $64.99), or triple play (TV, Internet, phone starting at $74.99). Each comes with 35-plus fixed basic channels plus two genre-based bundles (like sports, kids, news, and lifestyle). Costs vary depending on Mbps speeds in each category.
If CNN, HGTV, AMC, and Food Network, among other local broadcast channels, aren't enough, customers can add extra channel packs—seven in total—for $10 each, or swap or unsubscribe from any batch after 30 days. No contract is required.
"The ease and flexibility is unique and different," Verizon said, adding that customers can order online or through the FiOS Interactive Media Guide using the remote control. Or just call Verizon.
Major cable and pay TV services have long resisted an "a la carte" approach that would let customers pick and choose the channels they want to pay for rather than pay for a bundle of 300+ channels. For more than a decade, they have argued that a la carte would result in increased pricing and less channel diversity.
But they can no longer ignore the rise of Internet-based services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO NOW. In addition to Custom TV, Verizon is also prepping an Internet TV service, which will launch later this year with original content from AwesomenessTV, among other things.
"No one wants to have 300 channels on your wireless device," Verizon Communications chief Lowell McAdam said last year. "And I think everyone understands. It will go to a la carte."
Dish Network beat Verizon to the punch earlier this year with the launch of Sling TV. For $20 per month, subscribers can access channels like AMC, ABC Family, ESPN, and more; add HBO for $15 more per month.