Streamers are less likely to drop services when they are able to access connected video products via credits offered by their broadband provider, according to a new report released this week.
The study, published by MyBundle on Tuesday, is based on internal data collected from one of its broadband providers, which showed the first-year monthly churn rate for subscription video on-demand, or SVOD, streaming services drops by 50 percent when customers are able to buy subscriptions through their broadband provider using discount credits.
MyBundle offers one such program through its partnership with Norvado, a Wisconsin-based broadband Internet service provider that offers a $20 monthly credit to subscribers of its 1 Gigabit plan to spend on subscription services sold through the MyBundle platform.
Streamers who took Norvado up on their offer churn out of a subscription-based video service at a rate of 4.3 percent, MyBundle said. By comparison, data from research firm Antenna puts the 12-month industry churn rate at around 8 percent.
“The concept of bundling content and connectivity is nothing new to the broader business of media and entertainment, however with this yearlong MyBundle research we now have strong empirical data that bundling streaming purchases with broadband works,” Jason Cohen, the CEO of MyBundle, said in a press release. “New customer acquisition is still important for streaming services, but reducing churn is now a close second priority.”
Cohen said MyBundle is still in the “early days” of offering its credit-based program, called MyBundle Streaming Choice. Less than two dozen of MyBundle’s 230-plus broadband partners off their subscribers access to the program.
Cohen said MyBundle’s churn data proves there is a benefit to more broadband partners taking advantage of its monthly credits program.
“A potential 50 percent reduction in streaming service monthly churn is remarkable,” Cohen remarked, calling the situation a “possible game-changer” for subscription services.
The Desk was the first publication to offer an in-depth report on MyBundle’s partnership with telecoms, with the company growing exponentially over the past four years as more cable companies shift away from traditional pay television as part of a broader strategy focused on broadband.
In an interview with this reporter last year, Cohen said he predicted “hundreds” of cable TV companies would abandon their pay television product in favor of their broadband services, which offer better margins and lower customer service headaches.
