Verizon’s +play is a Hub for All Those Damn Streaming Services of Yours

There was a shift a few years back to a world of streaming, where many decided that cutting off overpriced cable was a smart move and that subscribing to select services that you actually use was worthwhile. I’m not so sure the cost-cutting is there any longer, but we’re all streaming more than ever. Verizon knows this and announced +play, a hub for its customers to manage all of the streaming services they subscribe to.

As a part of Verizon’s investor day, where the company explains in precise terms to investors how they’ll make them even more money – after another year of printing money – by getting customers to pay for more shit or a more expensive plan, Verizon described +play as a “groundbreaking platform that allows users to discover, purchase and manage some of their favorite subscriptions across entertainment, audio, gaming, fitness, music, lifestyle and more.” They also said that it will most definitely “generate significant new revenues from subscription purchases.”

This hub will expand on the services Verizon currently offers, making it a one-stop-shop for your streaming needs if you are a Verizon customer. This will, of course, allow you to subscribe from within your Verizon account and help keep you as a paying customer, because that’s the other goal of +play –  to “increase customer loyalty and improve [Verizon’s] market-leading retention rates.”

But enough of me ranting about mega-corps finding ways to make even more money while the country (and world) worry about unnecessary rising costs.

+play will launch this month in a limited rollout to select customers and with select partners. Verizon will then push the platform out to a wider audience at some point later in the year.

For services, +play will expand Verizon’s line-up in a big way by adding Netflix, Peloton, Veeps concert livestreams, WW International, A+E Networks (Lifetime Movie Club, HISTORY Vault, and A&E Crime Central), The Athletic, Calm, Duolingo, and TelevisaUnivision’s Vix+. Right now, Verizon gives customers subscriptions or deals on Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Discovery, and AMC+.

The +play service will be free to customers, in case that wasn’t clear. It will give you exclusive offers to use for many of the services as well. We aren’t sure yet how you’ll access +play, but my guess is that it’ll be baked into the My Verizon app.