Verizon Said to Plan Online TV Package for Summer Launch

Apparently, Verizon has been securing streaming rights from television network owners in preparation for the nationwide launch of a live online TV service. The telecommunications company plans to start selling a package with dozens of channels this summer. The live, over-the-internet TV service would be a first for Verizon -- separate from go90, a YouTube-like streaming-video service aimed at teens -- and also independent of its FiOS home TV offer, apparently. Verizon’s preparations highlight the growing pressure to provide a cheaper, smaller package of TV networks to viewers who are turned off by a glut of programming available on traditional cable packages. Dish Network Corp. introduced a similar service, Sling TV, two years ago, and AT&T’s DirecTV Now came out late in 2016.