.svg) | |
| Type of business | Private company |
|---|---|
Type of site | OTT platform |
| Founded | 2010; 15 years ago (2010) (as Tivli) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Founders |
|
| Key people | Andrew McCollum (CEO) |
| Industry | Pay television |
| Employees | 100 |
| URL | www |
| Users | 1.3 million[1] |
Philo[2] (formerly known asTivli[3]) is an Americanover-the-topstreaming television company based inSan Francisco,California. First founded atHarvard University in 2010 by Tuan Ho and Nicholas Krasney, investors in the company includeHBO,AMC Networks,A+E Global Media,Warner Bros. Discovery,Paramount Skydance,Andrew McCollum, andMark Cuban. The company and its service is named in honor of one of the pioneering engineers of television,Philo T. Farnsworth. As of February 2025[update], Philo has over 1,300,000 subscribers.[2] As of September 2025, Philo's Core subscription offering includesAMC+ and access toHBOMax anddiscovery+ apps.[4]
Philo was originally founded in 2010 as Tivli by Tuan Ho and Nicholas Krasney atHarvard University. It began as an experimental dorm-room streaming project usingaluminium foil as a makeshift receiving antenna to "pick up (Boston area) TV signals and deliver them wirelessly to their laptops via a jerry-rigged server".[5] At its launch, the project was intended to be a way to provide a streaming TV service to Harvard University students living on campus. When the service first launched in 2011, a quarter of the Harvard resident population registered for it within the first few weeks of the service.
In 2011, Tivli joined theHarvard Innovation Lab (iLab) as the first company in residence, before finally moving into their own office inHarvard Square in 2013. In 2012, Christopher Thorpe joined as CEO to build out Philo's original university IPTV service. From the earliest days, Philo had aspirations to launch a nationwide streaming TV service, starting in universities. After launching services at Harvard, Philo quickly added additional universities such asStanford University,Yale University,Texas A&M University, andBrown University.[6] In 2013, Philo announced a strategic partnership withHBO to provide the HBO GO service to universities. By September 2015, the service was available in 42 universities.[7]
In July 2013, the venture raised a $6.3 million round led by Patrick Chung atventure capital firmNew Enterprise Associates. Among theSeries A investors, wereMark Cuban from Radical Investments LP,HBO,Ari Emanuel fromEndeavor, andRho Capital Partners.[8][9] The same year the company was rebranded as Philo, from its former name, Tivli.[10][11]
In 2014,Andrew McCollum, a founding member ofFacebook, succeeded Christopher Thorpe as CEO to further expand Philo beyond providing university IPTV services and launch a direct-to-consumer over-the-top streaming service called Philo.[12] After securing their Series B round in 2015, Philo relocated toSan Francisco, California.[13]
In June 2015, Philo raised $10 million in aSeries B round led byNew Enterprise Associates, with joint investment from HBO, Rho Ventures,Xfund,CBC New Media Group, as well as Andrew McCollum.[14][15]
Philo launched itsOTT streaming television service in the United States on November 14, 2017. The service is available via TVs,digital media players, computers, tablets, and phones.[16][17] The service includes channels fromA&E Networks,AMC Networks,Discovery, Inc. (prior to its 2022 merger withWarnerMedia to formWarner Bros. Discovery), andViacom (prior to its2019 reunion withCBS Corporation to form ViacomCBS, formerly known asParamount Global and nowParamount Skydance), all of which also became joint owners of the service with a combined $25 million investment before this launch.[16]
The service has no local television stations or sports networks, though it does offer news services throughBBC World News (which is distributed by AMC) and financial news channelCheddar, along with the national feed of theAccuWeather Network.[18]
In October 2018, Philo addedHallmark Channel and its sister channels,Hallmark Movies & Mysteries andHallmark Drama.[19]
In February 2020,Google Fiber announced it would no longer offer television packages to new subscribers. It backedYouTube TV andfuboTV at the time and added the $20 package of Philo's 61 channels as an option.[20] Adding Philo to the list of Google Fiber was described as a way to help the virtual MVPD "keep its growth streak going" without the burden ofretransmission consent negotiations and fees needed to run a pay television service. At the time, Philo had 750,000 subscribers and the service said that over the year it had grown by 300%.[21] Philo then addedEpix andStarz as premium add-ons in June of the same year, along withTV Everywhere credentials to their websites and access to their video-on-demand libraries.[22]
On March 29, 2021,T-Mobile announced a partnership with Philo to offer a discount on the service when bundled with its wireless plans.[23] September 8 saw the debut of a "Movies & More" add-on package, which includesSony Movies,Reelz,HDNet Movies,MGM HD andCinémoi.[24] Philo would be a launch partner of Comcast's revival ofG4, launching the network on November 16.[25] GAC Media channels,GAC Living andGAC Family, were added to the service at the start of December 2021.[26]
In February 2022, Philo reached an agreement with entertainment company, Kin, to bring over 65 hours of programming to its platforms along with producing Philo's first original series, Boss Moves with Rasheeda.[27] Later in the year, Philo added around a half-dozen channels operated byWeigel Broadcasting, includingMeTV,MeTV+,Heroes & Icons,Catchy Comedy andStory Television.[28] In October 2022, Philo addedFETV to its base subscription package andFamily Movie Classics to the "Movies & More" add-on package.[29]
In May 2023, Philo expanded its "free TV" lineup with nine new channels: The Bob Ross Channel, Comedy Dynamics, Cowboy Way, Drag Race Universe,FailArmy, Outside TV, People are Awesome, the Pet Collective andScreambox. Despite being listed in the "free TV" section of Philo's electronic program guide, the channels can't be accessed unless a user signs up for Philo's $28 a month package.
In March 2024,Dish announced a partnership with Philo to offer advertisers access to Philo's inventory.[30] On June 25, 2024, Philo addedMeTV Toons to its channel lineup on the day the channel launched.[31]
In January 2025,AMC’sALLBLK channel became available as an add-on to Philo's ad-free subscription.[32]
In February 2025, Philo announced that it had reached 1.3 million paid subscribers, representing a 20% increase compared to 2023. The company also disclosed its revenue for the first time, reporting $450 million in revenue by the end of 2024, up approximately 10% year-over-year. In an official statement, Philo said it expects to reach profitability in 2025.[2]