Everything You Need to Know About Streaming Bundles
By Movieguide® Contributor
Now that bundling has hit the streaming world, here’s why it happened and the best bundles currently available.
Previously, bundles were all but void in the streaming world because simply providing a discounted price made no sense. Oftentimes, these bundles would be offered by third-party companies — like cell phone companies — who would cover the difference in the normal price. This changed when streaming services began to introduce ad-supported viewing last year, creating a second revenue stream that occurred after the monthly fee.
This second source of income has allowed services to offer their platform at a lower price without taking a significant cut in revenue. In fact, bundles have arguably led to an increase in revenue as they significantly reduce consumer churn.
“We have found that when you bundle together with other content that more people in the family like — on a very basic level — the more often you watch product, the more people in the family that watch the product, the lower the churn,” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav.
Streamers have many reasons to be excited about bundling and consumers do as well as they provide them access to their favorite content at a much lower cost. There are four major bundles currently available for consumers to choose from. Three of them center around Disney+, with the fourth offering Netflix for cheap.
Disney+ can currently be bundled with Hulu ($10.99 with ads, $19.99 no ads), Hulu and ESPN+ ($14.99 with ads, $24.99 no ads) or Hulu and Max ($16.99 with ads, $29.99 no ads). Finally, Comcast subscribers can get Netflix (with ads), Peacock and AppleTV+ for $15 per month.
Though no further bundles are currently in the works, ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery continue to fight for their industry-changing sports streaming bundle that was blocked by Fubo earlier this month.
Movieguide® previously reported:
The launch of ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Venu Sports, dubbed “the future home of sports streaming,” has been temporarily blocked after Fubo, a smaller sports streaming platform, requested a preliminary injunction.
Per ESPN, “United States District Judge Margaret M. Garnett in the Southern District of New York said in her 69-page ruling Friday that Fubo was likely to be successful in proving that the joint venture would violate antitrust laws and that Fubo and consumers would ‘face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.’”
Venu Sports was set to aggregate 15 linear TV networks, offering “cord-cutters access to a host of sporting events drawing from each of the media companies’ portfolios, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, tennis, soccer, golf, NASCAR races and UFC matches.”
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