Joe Maring / Android Authority
Tl; Dream
- T-Mobile phases out its Philo and YouTube TV discount, although it may remain available for up to two more years.
- Customers will now pay Philo directly, but receive reimbursement as a T-Mobile Account.
- Those affected should monitor future communication from T-Mobile carefully, as the offer may end earlier.
If you’ve been with T-Mobile for a while, remember it originally tried to break into the TV market with the TV service. After less than a year, the service closed. Before it left, the discounted TV service through either Philo or YouTube TV offered as an option for subscribers. Unfortunately, it seems that this benefit can finally end, although the good news is that the change can still be two years away.
Who first noted by Redditor Shaki8T-Mobile sends notifications to customers with Philo TV discount, indicating that it will now cover the service via a credit for up to 24 months instead of paying Philo directly. In short, you pay the entire Philo Bill yourself, but T-Mobile will continue to credit your T-Mobile account.
This change is not as surprising, as T-Mobile originally Offered Hulu (with ads) using a similar discount coding system It applied directly to your Hulu account, before integrating the benefit of T-Mobile billing instead. The difference between Hulu here is that you still have to pay for Philo separately, but you get a small monthly discount on the T-Mobile bill, although the email notes that it can take one to two invoicing cycles for this to kick in.
Panning of “up to 24 months” also suggests that the offer can technically end before, but T-Mobile does not provide any further details in the email.
Although it is understandable that T-Mobile revises the terms and ends the discount after 24 months-especially since it was really a farewell gift to TV subscribers-shells those who use Philo or YouTube TV discounts look for future comments on future changes.