BURBANK, Calif.—Starting this summer, U.S. consumers will be able to purchase a new streaming bundle offered by Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery that includes Disney+, Hulu and Max. Although the subscription fee has not been disclosed, the new bundle will be available for purchase on any of the three streaming platform’s websites and offered as both an ad-supported and ad-free plan.

The announcement comes amid Disney’s and WBD’s plans to launch a new sports streaming bundle (code-named “Spulu”) sometime this year. Disney has been offering packages that offer Hulu and ESPN Plus on Disney+ for several years in both ad-supported and commercial free tiers. 

The announcement represents the most significant partnership yet among media giants hoping to prime their streaming brands and better compete with Netflix and Amazon, (which coincidentally offers Max subscriptions through its Prime streaming service). 

“On the heels of the very successful launch of Hulu on Disney+, this new bundle with Max will offer subscribers even more choice and value,” said Joe Earley, President, Direct to Consumer, Disney Entertainment. “This incredible new partnership puts subscribers first, giving them access to blockbuster films, originals, and three massive libraries featuring the very best brands and entertainment in streaming today.”

“This new offering delivers for consumers the greatest collection of entertainment for the best value in streaming, and will help drive incremental subscribers and much stronger retention,” said JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Offering this unprecedented entertainment value for fans across all the complimentary genres these three services offer, presents a powerful new roadmap for the future of the industry.”

Additional details regarding the bundle offer will be shared in the coming months, Disney said. 

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Following the news that Prime Video is introducing ad-funded content, new research from Bango shows that ads are delivering serious gains for streaming and subscription giants. According to the data, the launch of ad-funded tiers has driven more than a third of U.S. subscribers (36%) to upgrade their services.

The survey found however that the launch of ad-supported tiers is a double edged sword that can also be a dangerous game for subscription providers, with 31% of subscribers saying they’ve canceled at least one service because ads were introduced. Strong objections also remain towards ‘premium ad tiers’, with 78% saying that paid-for subscriptions should never display ads.

The findings, which comes from Bango’s newly released "Subscription Wars 2024" report, which incorporates research from over 5,000 U.S. subscribers on their habits, behaviors and attitudes towards subscriptions, also highlighted the fact that acceptance of advertising varies across different subscription types. 

While 36% of TV and video streamers have paid for an upgrade to avoid watching ads, this figure rises to 48% among music subscribers. For those streaming sports content (SportsVOD), the number is even higher with a massive 71% opting to upgrade when ads are introduced into their services.

The Bango report also highlights the impact of recent crackdowns on password sharing. Since the new, strict rules were introduced by services like Netflix, 35% of subscribers have started paying for a service they previously accessed for free via someone else’s account. 

While these changes are driving subscribers to sign up and pay out, they’re apparently not enough to keep some people hooked. More than a third of subscribers (35%) still regularly jump between platforms, pausing and restarting their subscriptions to access the content they want, the report found.

“American attitudes towards subscriptions are changing,” explained Paul Larbey, CEO of Bango. “While many people predicted that ad tiering would be firmly rejected, in reality subscribers are welcoming the flexibility it provides. People want choice. Those who are happy to watch ads accept them, those who aren’t pay a little extra. The important thing is that they have the freedom to choose.”

“It’s that same demand for choice that’s driving the move towards content hubs and Super Bundling,” he added. “Subscribers want to jump between different content and services but they don’t want the admin headache of managing multiple accounts and paying multiple bills. With the rise of Super Bundling in 2024, we’re expecting to see that headache disappear. At the same time, these all-in-one platforms will help drive new revenue for cell phone providers and allow subscription services to share users rather than fighting over them. It’s a win-win scenario for businesses and subscribers alike.”

In terms of bundling, the report noted that 2023 saw services like Verizon +play launch as America’s first all-in-one subscription hub, ‘Super Bundling’ services such as Netflix, Starz, Max, Paramount+ and more all in one place.

According to data from the Bango 2024 study, this represents a welcome trend for subscribers, with 73% saying they want one platform to manage all of their subscriptions in one place. 69% would also like the ability to pay for multiple subscriptions via one monthly bill.

However, when it comes to offering these all-in-one services, American subscribers are wary of a return to ‘cable TV’ style packages, with only 29% wanting their cable company to manage their subscriptions. Instead, half of subscribers (50%) say they want their cell phone provider to launch a content hub. The majority of these (61%) would even pay a higher cell phone bill to receive this service, with the average subscriber happy to pay an additional $364 per year (+19% of their annual bill).

The full report is available here.  

All the research showing that consumers would like to see their streaming services bundled together seems to have gotten the attention of streaming media executives. A new survey of over 100 executives at leading music, video, and multi-service content providers by Bango is reporting that 81% of streaming executives believe that “super bundling” is the future for their industry and 93% of those executives say having all subscriptions on one bill is the biggest benefit.

Super bundling refers to a business model that provides integrated management of subscriptions through a centralized content hub, delivered through aggregators like telcos.

A variety of research surveys have found that the complexities of finding content on different streaming services and the difficulties of managing multiple streaming subscriptions has increased churn and prompted consumers to tell researchers that they would like a more unified platform for accessing content. 

The new Bango survey also examined some of the key reasons why streaming executives are embarrassing the bundling model, with over two-thirds of subscription leaders citing ‘new customer acquisition’ (73%) closely followed by ‘reducing churn’ (68%).  

The survey found that more than three out of five subscription leaders agree that subscription services should be bundling their services with content providers from other industries (69%); super bundling content hubs will be a vital revenue source for subscription services in the future (66%); and that super bundling content hubs will offer a strong competitive advantage for subscription services (65%). 

Over half of these executives (53%) said that super bundling will play a vital role in their future customer acquisition and retention strategies. Some go as far to say that not pursuing Super Bundling could be damaging, with almost a third (31%) warning of potential revenue and market share loss for those that don’t adapt quickly enough, the researchers said. 

When asked who they might select as bundling partners, communications service providers dominated, with 60% of subscription leaders citing satellite/cable providers as most effective, followed by broadband (56%) and cell phone companies (56%). 

The survey also found that streaming executives see a number of challenges in implementing the idea. Three out of five (61%) reported that their core challenge when bundling subscriptions is the complexity of managing multiple partners.

When trying to achieve this through reseller partners such as telcos, more than half report that the top challenges they face in partnering effectively are technical integration issues (64%); complexity of contract negotiations (63%); time-consuming onboarding processes (52%)

More information about Bango, super bundling and the full report can be found here.  

LONDON—As SVoD services in the US mature, pricing and bundling are key to retention, according to a recent report by Ampere Analysis. Newer platforms (including Disney+) tend to have higher levels of both sign-up and churn as they rely more heavily on individual title launches, while established SVoD platforms’ sign-up and churn rates are much more affected by pricing changes, Ampere said.

Ampere’s latest analysis shows that bundling is key to help mitigate price sensitivity, with Hulu and Disney+ having both benefitted in terms of sign-up and churn from the strength of the Disney Bundle.

With U.S. SVoD homes now having access to an average of 4.5 streaming services, newer SVoD players are continuing to see strong gross additions to their subscriber base. But the increasingly saturated SVoD market presents growing challenges for established services to maintain success, according to Ampere. As U.S. consumers edge closer to the stacking “ceiling,” attracting new subscribers and mitigating churn is more important than ever.

Because of this, retention is becoming a key battleground—for all SVoD platforms, leavers are primarily in younger, lower-income demographics, who are more sensitive to pricing and content offering. Discounted ad-supported tiers will mitigate churn here.

Another option to address price sensitivity is bundling. Hulu’s US sign-up and cancellation rates now mimic those of Disney+, as its users increasingly purchase their subscription through the bundle. Almost one third (32%) of Hulu subscribers have bundled with Disney+.

Pricing is key for established players, while new services rely on regular content releases, Ampere said. Disney+ uses franchise title releases and its first live broadcast to drive sign-ups. 

The first large peak in daily sign-ups seen on Sept. 8, 2022 corresponds with Disney+ Day, an annual event that marks the release of exclusive premieres and the announcement of upcoming content. This year’s Disney+ Day saw the release of big franchise titles including Thor: Love and Thunder, Pinocchio, and Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return. The next large peaks fall on Sept. 19, 2022, with the premiere of season 31 of Dancing with the Stars, and on Sept. 30, 2022, with the release of Hocus Pocus 2.

“The increasingly competitive SVoD market makes it hard for established services to maintain growth, while newer players continue to see strong gross additions but struggle to retain those customers,” said Mayssa Jamil, analyst at Ampere Analysis. “Pricing and content offering being the main drivers for sign-up and churn, a great way to aid customer retention is through bundling: it combines both of the above by offering larger catalogues and more frequent content additions at cheaper prices. We see this at play when looking at the way Hulu and Disney+ sign up and churn rates increasingly mimic one another thanks to the strength of the Disney Bundle.”

NEW YORK—A recent survey from research company Consumer Reports found that 77% of its respondents still subscribed to pay-TV services, but that most pay-TV providers received poor marks regarding their service. Based on a variety of factors, consumers are looking for alternative methods to access TV, which includes one in five consumers saying they are either very or extremely likely to cut the cord within the next year.

Complaints levied by respondents in the survey about their pay-TV service included things like unexpected fees and spiking rates after a promotional period ends. Of the people in the survey that had cut the cord on their pay-TV service in the last year, 62% cited rising rates as a reason. The respondents also gave every pay-TV provider the lowest rating for value.

However, even as consumers contemplate dropping their traditional pay-TV services, they are unlikely to get rid of cable-based services. Of respondents with cable-replacement streaming services like SlingTV or AT&T TV Now, 15% said that they were highly likely to drop them within the next year.

Retention rates for individual streaming services like Netflix are even better. Just 6% of consumers said they were likely to drop these types of services.

While streaming is a popular alternative to pay-TV, it isn’t the only one that consumers are exploring. CR found that 22% of its members use an antenna to get free over-the-air TV signals on one or more of the sets in their home.

Still, one of the big things that is keeping traditional pay-TV services alive is that they are often bundled with internet services for convenience and alleged savings. Two-thirds of respondents said they received a special promotion price when they signed up for a bundle service, and 44% said they continued to pay that special rate at the time of the survey.

If problems over price or other issues do arise though, consumers find benefits in haggling, be it reduced prices or in some cases getting access to premium channels like HBO or Showtime.

Consumer Reports conducted the survey with more than 108,000 responses. To find out more about the survey, click here.

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LONDON—There are a lot of ways for viewers to watch TV nowadays, whether it be services like Netflix, devices like Roku, or a good old-fashioned cable box. Rather than simply choosing a preferred service, a new report from Ampere Analysis reveals that many consumers are combining services for the most possible coverage.

This bundling of Pay TV, VoD and SVoD services is taking place so consumers can “build their own perfect TV offer,” Ampere described. The survey gathered information from 53,000 internet users in North America and Europe over the last 18 months and discovered more and more of them are customizing their own bundles. At the end of Q1 2017, 40 percent of respondents had built a custom TV bundle, an increase from mid-2015 when that number was 24 percent.

Despite the influx of these new services, cord-cutting has not taken off as much as some have feared with the respondents for the survey. While there has been an increase since 2015 of consumers with just on-demand services (5 percent in 2015, 13 percent in 2017), as well as a decrease in the number of homes that just have a Pay TV service (49 percent to 30 percent), Pay TV remains present in about the same number of homes in some capacity. Approximately 70 percent of homes have just Pay TV or some combination of Pay TV and SVoD services.

“The often-predicted mass cord-cutting from Pay TV, driven by growth of SVoD, has yet to arrive,” said Richard Broughton, research director at Ampere Analysis. “But let’s not get complacent. There are warning signs. Our research has found that consumers who are doubling-up on their TV services, combining their Pay TV service with one or more SVoD services, are twice as likely to be strongly considering leaving their main TV provider in the next six months.”

In the meantime, consumers are spending more money than ever on television services. In North America, the average money spent on subscription television for 12 months in 2016 was $311; this can include services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, as well as cable and satellite services like Comcast or DirecTV. Ampere reports that this is an increase of $30 per person per year from five years ago. The number is less in Western Europe at $95 per year, but that is still an increase from five years ago from $78.

Netflix and Amazon are the big SVoD players, though many subscribers have at least two services, i.e. in the U.S. four in five Hulu subscribers have Netflix and two thirds have Amazon Prime. Two thirds of Amazon Prime users also subscribe to Netflix in areas like the U.S., Germany and the U.K. The reason for overlap is content, 94 percent of titles are exclusive to a specific service.

“While a degree of cannibalization of subscription TV services is undoubtedly occurring as some customers decide to cut the Pay TV cord, the general trend is more, not less, access to television services,” Broughton reported. “That suggests broadly positive outcomes for content owners and distributors, who can expect greater levels of spending on good quality television content.”