Comcast to Launch Streaming Bundle of Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+
New bundle, called StreamSaver, to be available exclusively to subscribers of Comcast’s internet service
Comcast CMCSA 0.37%increase; green up pointing triangle will start bundling its Peacock streaming platform with rivals Netflix NFLX 0.19%increase; green up pointing triangle and Apple AAPL 0.13%increase; green up pointing triangle TV+, the latest effort by entertainment companies to retain customers by offering several services at a discount.
The new bundle, called StreamSaver, will be exclusively available to customers of Comcast’s internet service, Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said at a MoffettNathanson investor conference Tuesday.
The announcement comes less than a week after two other media conglomerates, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, said they would offer Disney’s Disney+ and Hulu and Warner’s Max service as part of a bundle, which would become available this summer.
The StreamSaver bundle will include Netflix’s ad-based tier, which currently costs $6.99 per month. Comcast expects to announce pricing and other details of the bundle next week, a person familiar with the company’s plans said. The bundle is expected to be launched by the end of the month.
The decisions by rival entertainment companies to join forces and offer their streaming services in a bundle come as they are dealing with competitive pressures. They have been raising prices sharply over the past year or so in an effort to bring their streaming businesses to profitability, but have in turn faced rising levels of customer defections.
Last year, Verizon began offering the ad-supported versions of Max and Netflix for $10 a month combined, instead of $17 a month. Paramount over the past several months had discussions with both Apple and Comcast about bundling their streaming services, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The number of streaming options has vastly increased over the past five years, making it harder for entertainment companies to retain subscribers once they are done binge-watching a specific show. Streamers’ challenges are exacerbated by the fact that most services are available through a monthly subscription.
Offering multiple services as part of one package decreases the likelihood that subscribers will cancel on any given month, the Journal previously reported, citing data from Antenna, a subscriber-measurement company.
Many streaming services moved aggressively to grow their subscriber base in an attempt to rapidly gain market share after their launch. They often charged bargain-basement prices to do so, which led to a financial reckoning and prompted sharp price increases in subsequent years.
Most major streamers have also launched ad-supported tiers of their offerings in an effort to attract price-conscious customers and generate more revenue. Netflix executives have said that growing its ad-supported service, which launched a year and a half ago, is a priority.
Yet the most dominant streaming platform remains one that is free to watch: Google’s YouTube. Nearly 10% of the time Americans spent in front of TV screens last month was on YouTube’s flagship smart-TV app, according to Nielsen data released Tuesday.