Budget-friendly virtual MVPD Philo shook up leadership this week, with long-time CEO Andrew McCollum stepping down and handing the reins to Mike Keyserling, effective immediately.
Newly appointed chief executive, Keyserling has been with Philo for more than a decade, serving as the streaming pay TV provider’s chief operating officer. Before that he was at HBO as SVP of media and production operations.
In a March 4 blog post announcing the leadership change, McCollum wrote that after more than 11-years leading Philo as CEO, “I’ve decided it’s time to hand the reins to the person I trust most to take Philo forward into its next chapter.”
As COO Keyserling’s responsibilities at Philo have spanned revenue, strategy and leading major company initiatives.
“His appointment as CEO is a logical expansion of the leadership role he has already been playing at Philo,” stated McCollum, who will be transitioning into the role of executive chairman and will continue to support the company’s long-term strategy.
Wallet-friendly Philo offers a skinny entertainment-focused pay TV lineup, charging $33 per month for new subscribers for a plan that offers more than 70 cable channels, 110 FAST channels, one-year DVR, plus content from AMC+ and more recently, ad-supported subscriptions to HBO Max and discovery+ SVODs included.
“The streaming and tech industries are evolving quickly, and the road ahead requires focus on navigating competition through strategic alliances and a purpose-built content model,” said McCullum in disclosing the new CEO. “As COO, Mike has helped shape our direction in a rapidly changing market, negotiated landmark deals with some of the industry’s largest players, and built the foundation that has allowed us to scale with intention.”
Some of the moves Philo has made include introducing a completely free ad-supported tier in 2024, with a FAST offering that’s meant to serve as an accessible entry point or “front porch” into the broader Philo ecosystem for those not subscribed to its paid service.
At the beginning of 2025, the privately-held pay TV provider disclosed $450 million in revenue and 1.3 million paid subscribers – at which time company executives told StreamTV Insider that FAST represented a key component of the long-term business strategy and was an area it planned to ramp investment in.
Some of its latest FAST channel additions include CBS News 24/7, 48 Hours, the Martha Stewart Channel and Emeril Lagasse Channel, which joined the lineup February.
Adding free streaming content to the mix is part of the company’s approach to deliver various content options at different price points, as is bundling SVODs.
And newly appointed CEO Keyserling told STV Insider in September that “bundled SVOD service are absolutely core to Philo’s future” and that the partnerships with AMC+ and WBD are examples of the strategy in action. Still, he emphasized Philo intends to continue to be “strategic and selective” about which premium streaming services it brings into its Core package.
“We're not just adding services to add services,” Keyserling said last fall. “It's about quality and value—finding the partners and content that genuinely enhance what we're already offering, not just checking boxes, while keeping prices at a reasonable rate. The goal is to keep building the best entertainment value in streaming while maintaining that seamless experience our customers expect from Philo.”