Apple and Paramount Global have held discussions about their streaming services that would allow subscribers to bundle them together for a single price, according to a report published on Friday.
The bundle would offer Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus together at a price that is lower than what each service costs on its own, the Wall Street Journal said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the plan.
It wasn’t clear how much the bundle would be priced, or whether the version of Paramount Plus offered through the deal would include Showtime content and live access to local CBS stations that is normally found in the premium tier of the service. On its own, Apple TV Plus costs $10 per month or $100 per year, while Paramount Plus ranges from $6 per month with ads or $12 per month without.
Both companies are no strangers to bundles: Wireless phone provider T-Mobile has offered complementary access to Apple TV Plus across some of its higher-priced plans, and Verizon offers low-cost access to Apple TV Plus as part of a broader discount on the Apple One bundle available to customers with some unlimited data plans. Likewise, the ad-supported version of Paramount Plus — which includes live access to CBS-televised National Football League (NFL) games and some other sports — is included with Walmart One, a membership program similar to Amazon Prime.
Other streaming services have also gotten in on the bundle craze: Comcast’s Peacock recently announced a deal with Instacart that allows subscribers of Instacart Plus to receive free access to Peacock Premium. Amazon and Roku also offer bundles of third-party streaming services like Starz, AMC Plus and MGM Plus through their streaming marketplaces, and Google-owned YouTube TV offers a bundle called “Entertainment Plus” that includes Max, Showtime and Starz for around $30 per month.
Bundling services together is viewed by some industry experts as a way to help reduce churn as streamers continue to raise the price of their individual services. Consumers who bundle services together are believed to be less likely to cancel their bundle if it means they’re able to watch content from different services at a discount.
