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Prism TV

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Prism TV
Company typeSubsidiary/limited liability company
IndustryPay television
FoundedJanuary 5, 2011(2011-01-05)
FounderLumen Technologies
Area served
United States
OwnerLumen Technologies
Websitewww.centurylink.com/prismtv/

Prism TVis an AmericanIPTVservice owned byLumen Technologies.It is based on the same technology as theU-verseservice deployed byAT&T.[1]

History[edit]

Around the time thatSprint Nextelspun off their landline division to formEmbarq,Verizon,andAT&Tbegan work on their own IPTV services to compete with the local cable companies.[citation needed]Embarq was no different, and had started work on a similar service called Embarq TV.[citation needed]Details were scarce, but the service was rumored to have been an IPTV fiber-to-the-node service similar to AT&T'sU-verse.The service was going throughbeta testingwhen CenturyTel agreed to purchase Embarq to form CenturyLink in 2009.[citation needed]

CenturyLink (still known as CenturyTel) began rolling out what was to eventually be known as Prism TV in October 2009 inJefferson City, Missouri.It adopted the Prism TV name in 2011, based on the Embarq TV infrastructure.

Over time, CenturyLink began rolling out Prism TV in markets as they were upgraded from the old copper-based services tofiber-optic communication,eventually offering the service in markets inArizona,[2]Colorado,[3][4]Florida,[5]Iowa,[6]Minnesota,[7]Missouri,[8]Nebraska,[9]Nevada,[10]North Carolina,[11]Oregon,[12]Washington,[13]andWisconsin.[14]

Other markets were to follow once their lines were upgraded to be able to carry Prism TV. In the interim, markets that did not offer Prism TV had atriple playoption through CenturyLink withDirecTV.Some CenturyLink customers also hadDish Networkas their TV provider through CenturyLink under agrandfather clause,as Dish was the legacy provider through CenturyTel and Embarq; CenturyLink switched to DirecTV as part of its acquisition ofQwest,who had partnered with DirecTV.[15]

In 2018, CenturyLink stopped offering Prism TV to new customers. Instead, CenturyLink it began promotingDirecTVfor new customers.[16]

In late 2020, CenturyLink began the process of discontinuing Prism TV completely starting in Minnesota[17]and Nevada. As of March 2021, several other markets have stopped offering the service to all customers including Arizona,[18]Colorado, Washington, and parts of Florida.

Reception[edit]

Reception for Prism TV has been generally positive, with many observers feeling that giving consumers the option in areas where they might have been stuck with the local cable company if they weren't able to receivesatellite television(due to either technical reasons or not being allowed through their landlords if they rent their homes) combined withcord-cuttingwould ultimately help push pay TV prices lower.

While CenturyLink has been slower to roll out Prism TV compared toVerizon Fiosand AT&T U-verse, it has gotten praise from some consumer advocate groups that they are at least putting forth the effort to upgrade their landlines and offer the service. Verizon, and to a lesser extent, AT&T, have both received criticism for all but abandoning their landline infrastructure to focus more on their wireless divisions, something CenturyLink doesn't offer on its own. (CenturyLink does offer bundling services forVerizon Wireless.) Verizon has in fact faced lawsuits from the city governments inNew York CityandPittsburgh(both of which offer CenturyLink in parts of their suburban areas, though neither currently offer Prism TV) for failure to deploy Fios throughout their respective cities.[19]While AT&T has mostly deployed U-verse throughout its 21-state landline territory and has maintained its landlines, they have shown a lack of commitment on U-verse and plan on merging U-verse into DirecTV, which AT&T acquired in 2015.[20][21][22]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"CenturyLink Quietly Launches Prism IPTV Product".www.telecompetitor.com.Archivedfrom the original on 6 July 2017.Retrieved25 April2018.
  2. ^"CenturyLink rolling out Prism TV in Chandler, Gilbert".Phoenix Business Journal.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-04-23.Retrieved2013-05-22.
  3. ^"CenturyLink receives franchise approval to expand Prism™ TV service into metro Denver | CenturyLink".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-05-18.Retrieved2015-05-16.
  4. ^"CenturyLink starts offering its Prism TV in parts of county".The Gazette.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-06-19.Retrieved2013-05-22.
  5. ^"CenturyLink Launches Prism™ TV in Orlando/Central Florida".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-01.Retrieved2014-02-25.
  6. ^"CenturyLink Prism - Get Premium Channels, Access Movies On Demand, and Upgrade to HD Access".www.centurylink.com.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2018.Retrieved25 April2018.
  7. ^"CenturyLink's Prism TV to offer cable alternative".twincities.com.14 May 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 25 January 2016.Retrieved25 April2018.
  8. ^"CenturyLink Offers New Functionality to Prism TV Users".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-05-01.Retrieved2012-02-25.
  9. ^Omaha.com."Omaha World-Herald apps".Omaha.com.Retrieved25 April2018.
  10. ^"CenturyLink gives Prism™ TV customers anywhere access to live TV programming - FierceCable".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-01.Retrieved2014-02-25.
  11. ^"CenturyLink Offers New Functionality to Prism TV Users".2012-01-27. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-05-01.Retrieved2012-02-25.
  12. ^"CenturyLink launches Prism™ TV in Portland | CenturyLink".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-05-18.Retrieved2015-05-14.
  13. ^"CenturyLink takes on Comcast in Seattle with rival Prism TV".The Seattle Times.18 August 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 25 December 2015.Retrieved29 October2015.
  14. ^"CenturyLink Beefs up Prism TV App Lineup | Cable Television News | Broadcast Syndication | Programming | Multichannel.com".Archivedfrom the original on 2014-01-25.Retrieved2014-02-25.
  15. ^"CenturyLink Switches From Dish To DirecTV - Though will still support users who stick with Dish".dslreports.com.Archivedfrom the original on 4 March 2016.Retrieved25 April2018.
  16. ^Dampier, Phillip (10 April 2018)."CenturyLink Ends Prism TV Service Expansion".Stop the Cap!.Retrieved13 April2021.
  17. ^"Edina, MN".edinamn.gov.Retrieved13 April2021.
  18. ^"CenturyLink to end Prism IPTV service in Litchfield Park".Your Valley.January 20, 2021.Retrieved13 April2021.
  19. ^"Verizon Tells Employees to Ignore Bad Press on FiOS Failures".dslreports.com.Archivedfrom the original on 3 July 2017.Retrieved25 April2018.
  20. ^Bode, Karl (August 14, 2015)."AT&T Outlines the Changes DirecTV (and U-Verse) Users Will See".DSL Reports.Archivedfrom the original on August 16, 2015.RetrievedAugust 15,2015.
  21. ^Dano, Mike (August 12, 2015)."AT&T to stop investing in U-verse CPE, will move to new in-home architecture using DirecTV system".FierceCable.Archivedfrom the original on August 14, 2015.RetrievedAugust 15,2015.
  22. ^Baumgartner, Jeff (August 17, 2015)."AT&T to Put 'Genie' Into U-Verse's Bottle".MultiChannel News.Archivedfrom the original on June 21, 2017.RetrievedAugust 20,2015.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prism_TV&oldid=1212520357"