Verizon's streaming TV service might not see the light of day until spring 2018

Apart from being companies, what do AT&T, Google, Sony, and Dish have in common? They have all released streaming TV services that sit alongside other offerings. Unfortunately for Verizon, it will reportedly not have such a service to call its own until at least spring 2018.

According to a report by the folks at Bloomberg, the delay is partially due to Verizon not yet able to finalize distribution deals will media companies. The delay is also attributed to staff being moved around, the biggest being media chief Marni Walden’s February 2018 departure from the company. Walden, who is Verizon’s top-ranking female executive, was seen as someone on the rise within Big Red.

Walden’s eventual departure, combined with Verizon’s inability to nail down streaming rights, have led folks to assume some sort of strategic shift, particularly since this is the service’s second such delay.

You wouldn’t know it from Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam’s comments back in September, however. At the time, McAdam admitted that web-based TV is becoming “a crowded field,” but also said that offering such a service is “absolutely critical” for Big Red.

Still, there is no ignoring how much of a head start competitors will have by the time Verizon’s streaming TV offering becomes available. Also, because Verizon’s service will be similarly priced to other offerings, it will not have much of a competitive advantage in the pricing arena.

In other words, whether you use Verizon’s streaming TV service might depend on whether you are a Verizon customer and whether you care about Verizon as a brand.