Verizon is working with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and Netflix on a super bundle of both streaming services that will be priced at $10 per month, according to a report published on Thursday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the bundle will offer the ad-supported versions of Netflix and WBD’s Max for about $7 less than what each service would cost if purchased separately.
The Wall Street Journal story said the bundle would be offered as part of the wireless company’s new “My Plan” service tiers. The tiers supercede older Verizon wireless plans that offered complementary access to some streaming services, like Disney Plus, as part of a customer’s bill.
The new My Plan service tiers offer discounts to digital services like Disney Plus, Apple Music, Walmart One and others, though customers are charged for their subscriptions. The subscriptions tend to be lower in price compared to what customers would pay if they signed up for each service outside of Verizon.
As part of the arrangement, WBD and Netflix will have to share whatever subscription revenue it earns from sales of their bundle through Verizon, according to the Wall Street Journal, which relied on unnamed sources. The arrangement is not too different from other streaming marketplaces like the Roku Channel, YouTube Primetime Channels and Amazon Prime Video Channels, which take between 15 and 30 percent of revenue from subscriptions sold natively through their platforms.
The deal with Verizon comes as entertainment companies look for more opportunities to bundle their services in an effort to maximize potential revenue from streaming and lower churn rates across the board. Bundles are typically viewed as one way to accomplish both, by bringing in a steady flow of income and incentivizing users to stick with multiple services if they feel they’re receiving a deal on them.
In recent months, Amazon has explored different ways to bundle streaming services sold through their Prime Video Channels marketplace, quietly launching different bundles that group its own MGM Plus service with AMC Plus and Starz, according to a review of the Amazon Prime Video Channels marketplace by The Desk.
Disney has long offered a bundle that incorporates Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus for one set price, and recently launched a package called Disney Duo that offers access to Disney Plus and Hulu without ESPN Plus. And Paramount Global recently went through with plans to incorporate the Showtime multiplex channels and content catalog into Paramount Plus, effectively bundling both products into one.
