Verizon, which positions itself as a “neutral” player in the content and streaming landscape, continues to expand its subscription hub, +play, through new partnership deals with Peloton and Starz.
On Monday, the telecom giant said Verizon customers who are new to Peloton can receive a free four-month trial of the Peloton app through +play until the end of the month. Last week, prior to the premiere of BMF, the company has also added Starz as the latest streaming service available on the platform.
+play is Verizon’s answer to all-in-one content hubs offered by companies like Roku, Amazon’s Prime Video Channels and YouTube’s Primetime Channels, giving users a streamlined platform to buy, manage and access their streaming subscriptions. Verizon’s platform – available to Verizon phone and internet users – launched in beta in December with services such as HBO Max, NFL+, NBA League Pass and AMC+, as well as a continued partnership with Disney for its streaming bundle and a year-long free subscription to Netflix for users who have subscribed to another service on +play. Outside of movie and TV entertainment, +play includes educational and wellness services such as Duolingo and Calm, allowing the hub to serve a wider range of interested users.
Erin McPherson, Verizon’s chief content officer, said the company’s intent is not to “assemble the world’s apps,” but to provide Verizon customers with a curated experience with bundled deals across genres. For example, McPherson said she could envision an opportunity to bundle a service like Duolingo with Verizon’s TravelPass, a data, voice, and SMS plan for international travelers.
“You are getting ready for that trip to Italy; we could offer something special for you and the family to learn Italian and make sure you’re connected with TravelPass there,” McPherson said. “That’s just an example, not something that exists yet, but it’s illustrative… [of] the way we optimize +play our offers to customers by being able to create truly customized promotions for the needs of different customers.
In total, McPherson predicts that +play will include about 50 services in categories such as gaming, music, lifestyle and entertainment.
“We are neutral. We don’t have a content company. We are a distribution and marketing partner and of course we have millions and millions of customers…so we have a scaled solution where we already have a very trusted one-to-one billing relationship with customers,” said McPherson, pointing to the more than 120 million Verizon US customers. “We’re in this position to really be a preferred partner for the programming community.”
Alex Weprin contributed to this report.
