Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- T-Mobile is phasing out its Philo and YouTube TV discount perk, though it might remain available for up to two more years.
- Customers will now pay Philo directly but receive reimbursement as a T-Mobile account credit.
- Those affected should monitor future communications from T-Mobile closely, as the offer might end earlier.
If you’ve been with T-Mobile for a while, you might recall that it initially tried to break into the TV market with its TVision service. After less than a year, the service shut down. Before exiting, it offered discounted TV service through either Philo or YouTube TV as an alternative for its subscribers. Unfortunately, it appears that this perk may finally be ending, though the good news is that the change could still be two years away.
As first noted by Redditor Shaki8, T-Mobile is sending alerts to customers with the Philo TV discount, indicating it will now cover the service via a credit for up to 24 months rather than paying Philo directly. In short, you’ll pay the full Philo bill yourself, but T-Mobile will continue crediting your T-Mobile account.
This change isn’t too surprising, as T-Mobile initially offered Hulu (with ads) using a similar discount code system that applied directly to your Hulu account, before integrating the perk with T-Mobile billing instead. The difference between Hulu here is that you’ll still have to pay for Philo separately, but you’ll get a small monthly discount on your T-Mobile bill, though the email notes it may take one to two billing cycles for this to kick in.
The “up to 24 months” phrasing also suggests the offer could technically end sooner, but T-Mobile doesn’t provide further details in the email.
While it’s understandable that T-Mobile is revising the terms and ending the discount after 24 months — especially since it was essentially a farewell gift for TV subscribers — those using the Philo or YouTube TV discount should watch for future notices about upcoming changes.
