Rabbit TV

There are a lot of devices being marketed to cord cutters today. We have a wide range of options for OTT services, streaming boxes, and more. And the marketing strategies are nearly as diverse as the products. For instance, compare Apple's sleek Apple TV ads to… whatever this is.

You may have seen this commercial on TV before and wondered what Rabbit TV is. The infomercial-like quality of the commercial even had some wondering if Rabbit TV is a scam (it's not). Here's the scoop on the service.

What Is Rabbit TV? What Does It Do?

Rabbit TV doesn't have its own content, so it's not really a streaming service like Netflix. And the company has actually discontinued the little USB stick in the commercial up there, so you know it's not a streaming box either. So what is it?

Essentially, Rabbit TV acts as a virtual streaming box: it organizes various existing streaming services into a single interface. It's a content aggregator, not a content provider. It takes free streaming content from across the web – grabbing episodes from CBS.com, TV shows and movies from Crackle, and so on – and puts them all on one screen. The service creates “live” streaming channels out of this content in a way that's similar to Pluto TV.

Users with subscriptions to services like Netflix and Hulu can also set up those within Rabbit TV's framework. All of this takes place on Rabbit TV's website, through your browser.

Essentially, Rabbit TV is just an aggregator that puts all of your streaming content in one spot and turns streaming videos into 24/7 channels. It gives you a streaming box-style interface within your browser. For this service, Rabbit TV charges $10/year.

The New Rabbit TV

It's worth noting that Rabbit TV caught its fair share of heat early on for that somewhat misleading commercial we included in the introduction. That commercial – and the packaging on the Rabbit TV's now-discontinued USB sticks – promises thousands of movies and TV shows. In fact, their current website still advertises the same thing. As we saw above, this claim is only sort of true – those movies and TV shows are available through Rabbit TV's interface, but everything Rabbit TV gives you is already available for free elsewhere.

As you can see from their new commercial above, Rabbit TV has cleaned up its act a bit. It now calls its service Rabbit TV Plus, has ditched the USB stick, and is a bit more clear about its purpose in its marketing materials. It still arguably implies that its content is its own, which is only sort of true, but that simplistic approach is probably designed in part to help Rabbit TV reach its target audience – which, as we'll see in the next section, you likely are not a part of.

A Unique Target Audience

If this whole setup seems a little odd to you, you're not alone. Cord cutters are a disproportionately young and tech-savvy group, and most of us know how to access this free content without relying on a service like Rabbit TV. Most of us would choose to use a streaming box or a media center program (like Plex or Kodi) to fill this need.

But Rabbit TV isn't really targeting the young, tech-savvy core of the cord cutter market. Instead, it's explicitly targeting an older and less tech-literate demographic. You could even argue that Rabbit TV's potential audience includes lots of current cord-havers, who would cut the cord if they had a simple enough alternative.

It's a very unique idea, and one that should be exciting to cord cutters. A shift in entertainment habits in older demographics could really accelerate the cord cutting trend.

What's Next?

Rabbit TV is a relatively young service, and it's already changed its business model once (by moving to a web-based app and discontinuing its USB sticks). According to Digital Trends, Rabbit TV has been working with content providers to expand its selection. And since Rabbit TV's demographics (which skew older) line up well with the content that's easiest to get on these types of services (older television shows and movies), Rabbit TV is in a very interesting position.

Because you're reading a cord cutting blog, there's a good chance that you're not in the heart of Rabbit TV's target audience right now. But that could change as Rabbit TV grows and competes with Pluto TV. It will be interesting to watch where Rabbit TV goes next. Read our full review of Rabbit TV here.