Price-conscious streaming television service Philo is bringing its connected TV app to LG’s line-up of smart TVs, the company announced on Wednesday.
Starting this week, users of LG’s WebOS-powered smart TV sets can download the Philo app from the LG Content Store. The app is available on most LG smart TVs that date as far back as 2018, the company said. Previously, LG TV users needed a separate streaming device like a Roku box, Amazon Fire TV stick or Android TV player in order to watch content from Philo.
“With LG Smart TVs joining our growing list of compatible devices, it’s easier than ever to stream Philo’s incredible entertainment wherever and however you want,” Jane Marks, a former HBO executive who now leads Philo’s business development, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
LG is the latest platform to feature a native app from Philo, which also offers apps for Samsung and Vizio smart TV sets. TVs running Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV (Google TV) can also use Philo without a separate device, and the company also has apps for Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Android-powered mobile devices.
Philo recently unveiled a new logo, user interface and brand campaign that reorients the service around the idea that it is a “better way to TV.” It comes at a time when entertainment-based TV and movies are increasingly spread across different apps and services; Philo offers thousands of TV shows and films from its content partners, including Paramount Global (Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Logo, BET), A+E Networks (A&E, Vice, History Channel, Lifetime), AMC Networks (AMC, IFC, BBC America, We TV) and Warner Bros Discovery (Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Science Channel, OWN), through its “Philo Core” service, which costs $28 per month and includes access to AMC Plus.
Philo also offers dozens of free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels from AMC, Cineverse, FilmRise and others, which no longer require a subscription to Philo Core to view. Content from those channels can be recorded to a cloud DVR, with recorded shows and movies stored for at least 30 days. Philo Core also includes a cloud DVR that saves shows and movies for at least a year after they air on TV.
