T-Mobile’s Binge On service is gaining support for more free streaming options today, including one biggie that T-Mo folk will be super excited for.
Binge On now supports YouTube, meaning that T-Mobile subscribers with Binge On enabled can stream YouTube videos without using their high-speed data allotment. In addition to YouTube, Binge On free streaming is now supported for Baeble Music, Discovery GO, ESNE, FilmOn.TV, Fox Business, Google Play Movies, KlowdTV, and Red Bull TV.
The addition of YouTube to Binge On is big for a couple of reasons. Not only is YouTube one of the biggest video streaming sites in the world, but it has been critical of Binge On in the past. T-Mobile CEO John Legere says that T-Mo sat down with YouTube to talk about Binge On and make some changes to the service, and now YouTube is on board.
So what changes did T-Mobile make? First up, video providers can now choose to exclude their content from Binge On optimizations. Previously, even providers that hadn’t agreed to the free streaming portion of Binge On would have their videos “optimized” to 480P if a T-Mobile customer had Binge On enabled. Now providers can opt out of the program entirely. Those that do will be added to T-Mobile’s website so that customers know which providers aren’t a part of Binge On.
Second, T-Mobile is now enabling video providers to manage their own Binge On streams. YouTube is the first to do this, so it will manage its own video optimizations rather than letting T-Mo take over.
Today is a big day for T-Mobile and Binge On. The addition of YouTube is sure to please existing Binge On users and could convince some folks to switch to T-Mobile for the service. Meanwhile, T-Mobile making changes to Binge On and getting YouTube on board could help Binge On’s image in the eyes of some regulators and folks that’ve been critical of Binge On in the past.
With today’s addition, Binge On now includes free streaming from more than 50 services. The full list looks like this:
