As Verizon’s Fios Video subscribers continue to dwindle, the company is gaining broader relationships with content partners that will play a role in its growing fixed wireless business.
Ronan Dunne, executive vice president and CEO for Verizon’s Consumer Group, said his company was previously a “subscale” purchaser of content when it was limited to the Fios Video footprint in the Northeast. But recent content partnerships with Disney+, Discovery+ and other streaming services have greatly increased Verizon’s scale with content owners, something that will come in handy as the company aspires to grow its fixed wireless business into a nationwide residential broadband competitor.
“I now have broader relationships, which give me more leverage with those key relationships with the Disneys, The Discoveries, et cetera, of this world. So, from a strategy point of view, that helps the whole of our business,” said Dunne during a Bernstein investor conference, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.
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Verizon reported 82,000 Fios Video net losses during the first quarter of 2021, dropping its total to approximately 3.77 million. As Variety pointed out, that’s the smallest the company’s Fios Video subscriber base has been since the first quarter of 2011, when it sat at approximately 3.66 million.
But Verizon has remained focused on adding more third-party video service partnerships to build more value into its wireless and fixed wireless products. Last month, the company reached a deal to offer two free months of Sling TV to new and existing Verizon customers with a wireless, Fios or 5G Home accounts.
When Verizon launched its Mix & Match pricing for broadband and video bundles, YouTube TV factored in heavily. In addition to deals with Disney and Discovery, Verizon has also reached agreements to offer free Apple Music, Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass to its subscribers.
Dunne pointed out that Verizon losing Fios Video subscribers and picking up connectivity customers who come in partly for the content deals has been a positive for his company’s yield as opposed to spending $60 on a channel bundle and charging $60 for it.
“So, me losing video, and then people coming and using mix and match using the fact that they're also getting wireless content through the wireless relationship is actually helping to fuel the Fios business and is great for fixed wireless access,” he said.