Free live TV streaming with cloud DVR: Now Philo has it too

Don’t call it a trend yet, but Philo is now the second live TV streaming service to offer a free tier with DVR.

Philo’s free version follows that of Sling TV, whose FreeStream service added a cloud-based DVR in January. Both services let you record from their free, ad-supported streaming channels, then use the DVR to skip through commercials. The paid version of Philo, which includes a much larger collection of cable channels without sports, costs $25 per month.

(In related news, Philo’s price will jump to $28 per month on June 12, but existing subscribers can keep their old pricing if they don’t want AMC+ as a newly added benefit. Philo’s price hikes have always been the fairest in the business.)

This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best live TV streaming services.

These free offerings are nice for anyone fed up with ad overload on streaming services, and they may help Philo and Sling attract or retain customers that don’t want to pay for expensive TV packages. Just be aware that some recording restrictions apply.

What’s included in Philo’s free version?

The free version of Philo currently includes 75 channels, but as with other free streaming services, those channels are different from what’s in a traditional cable package. Expect lots of marathon streams of old shows such as Portlandia, Pawn Stars, and Cold Case Files, along with a mix of B-movie channels and music video streams. Some news is available via BBC News and Cheddar, but there are no major cable news networks, local channels, or live sports.

To record from Philo’s free channels, you select a show and click the “Save” button, which adds the show to the “Saved” tab at the top of the app. Philo’s free version will save recordings for 30 days from the original air date, versus one year for the paid version.

Unlike with Philo’s paid version, saving a show doesn’t always record it to your DVR. AMC-owned channels such as Walking Dead Universe and IFC Slightly Off don’t allow recording on the free tier, and a prominent message encourages you to upgrade when adding one of its shows to your Saved list. You’ll still see on-demand versions of those shows in your Saved list, but the ads will be unskippable.

In most other cases, though, the DVR in Philo’s free tier works the same as the paid version. In an especially nice touch, the video player marks up commercial breaks automatically, and you can skip through them with one click of the remote.

Philo’s free version vs. Sling FreeStream

Sling’s free streaming service, known as FreeStream, currently offers roughly 400 English-language channels, far more than than 75 free channels on Philo. Quantity isn’t everything, but you’ll find a lot more that’s worth recording on Sling.

But Sling’s DVR is also more of a nuisance. FreeStream only includes 10 hours of storage space, and recording just one or two series could be enough to fill the entire DVR given the marathon nature of many free streaming channels. While you can unofficially add more space by signing up for one of Sling’s international plans, you’ll still hit the limit before long.

Philo’s unlimited DVR is more conducive to free streaming. While you can only keep recordings for 30 days, most of the content is disposable enough that the time limit doesn’t really matter. Philo has been adding free channels to its lineup over time, so hopefully it can make more deals with larger content providers before long.

More to come

Philo and Sling aren’t alone in looking to free streaming as a supplement to their live TV subscription tiers. Fubo also plans to launch a free tier in the “coming weeks,” The Streamable has reported, though at first it’ll only be available to customers who’ve cancelled their paid subscriptions. It’s unclear if this tier will include DVR.

All three companies likely see free streaming as a way to maintain their relationships with lapsed subscribers, so it’s easier to upsell them on returning to a paid subscription in the future. In the meantime, they’ll at least generate some extra ad revenue.

But as more streamers follow this strategy, their free tiers will have to become more competitive. Adding DVR is one way to stand out, especially as ad-supported streaming becomes the norm.

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