Bravo Is Coming to Philo, Along With a Set of NBCUniversal Free Channels

Bravo is coming to Philo, the streaming service that sells television channels in bundles. NBCUniversal and Philo have reached a carriage deal, meaning an agreement that puts a channel on a distributor's lineup, according to Deadline.

Bravo will start on Philo as a live channel, so viewers can watch whatever is on air at that moment. On-demand episodes will follow at a later date. The deal also brings a selection of NBCUniversal's FAST channels to Philo. FAST stands for free ad-supported streaming television, which means channels you can watch without paying a subscription, funded by advertising.

Philo already carries more than 70 live channels, many focused on entertainment and lifestyle shows. Its entry plan costs $25 a month. A $33 tier adds HBO Max, AMC+, Discovery+ and All Reality to the package.

The service has been around for a while, but not always in its current form. Philo began by serving college campuses before it opened to the general public in 2017.

Philo reported 1.3 million subscribers, up 20% on its 2024 level, and annual revenue of $450 million. The company also said about half of its subscribers name reality TV as their main genre. Nearly 85% of active subscribers watch reality programming on the service.

Those numbers help explain why a reality-heavy channel like Bravo fits the platform's audience. Shows like these tend to draw viewers who come back each week, so a live channel with a steady schedule suits them.

Philo's own website lists several features beyond the channels themselves. The service offers more than 75,000 movies and shows on demand. New users can start a 7-day free trial on the Essential plan. The Essential and Bundle+ plans include one year of unlimited cloud DVR storage, which lets you save shows to watch later. Accounts can stream on up to three devices at once and create up to 10 profiles, so each person in a household can have their own viewing history and recommendations.

Philo also runs a set of Free Channels that need no credit card to watch. Recordings made from those channels are kept for 30 days. Those free channels are separate from the NBCUniversal FAST channels coming to the service under the new deal.

For anyone who wants to see Bravo on Philo, the first step is the live channel. The on-demand library will come later, and no date for that has been given yet.