For $15 per month, the Spectrum TV Essentials streaming service will provide more than 60 channels to an Apple TV or iPhone for customers of the company's internet service that don't have a cable television package.
At launch, Spectrum TV Essentials will be available for $14.99 plus tax. The lineup will be streamed through the Spectrum TV app, and will be available on a wide range of platforms.
Networks available on Spectrum TV Essentials include: A&E, AMC, American Heroes Channel, Animal Planet, AXS TV, BBC America, BBC World News, BET, BET Her, BET Jams, BET Soul, Bloomberg, Cheddar, CLEO TV, CMT, CMT Music, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, Destination America, Discovery, Discovery Family, Discovery Life, DIY, Food Network, FYI, Game Show Network, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, HDNet Movies, HGTV, HISTORY, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, Logo, MotorTrend Network, MTV, MTV2, MTV Classic, MTV Live, MTVU, NewsmaxTV, Newsy, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nick Music, NickToons, Outdoor Channel, OWN, Paramount Network, Science Channel, Sundance TV, Teen Nick, TLC, Travel Channel, TV Land, VH1, Viceland, The Weather Channel and WEtv. Broadcast channels are not included.
"As the video marketplace continues to segment across price points and offerings, we believe a high quality, lower priced option for internet-only subscribers is very important," said Viacom President and CEO Bob Bakish about the offering. "We're excited to have our global brands as part of Spectrum TV Essentials at launch."
The Spectrum TV app arrived on the App Store on January 3. With the release, Charter Spectrum became the first U.S. basic cable company to offer support for tvOS 12's zero sign-on functionality.
Apple's zero sign-on automatically authenticates existing subscriptions, allowing users to seamlessly access channels and on-demand content provided through their selected cable bundle. Zero sign-on is an evolution to single sign-on, which debuted in 2016 to streamline the log in process for a growing number of third-party video streaming apps.