More than half of American streaming households are subscribing to a video service through a bundle, according to new research from consulting firm Magid.
Fifty-three percent of American streamers are taking at least two streaming services through a bundle that is offered through a telecom or direct from a media company, Magid reports. The figure is 11 percent higher when compared to similar data from 2023.
The uptick correlates with an increase in bundle offerings from entertainment companies and telecoms alike. Disney has long offered a bundle that includes its flagship Disney Plus service along with general entertainment platform Hulu and sports-inclusive ESPN Plus, with the bundle priced lower than what each service would cost on its own. It recently introduced a new “Duo” bundle that includes just Disney Plus and Hulu, and offers discounted subscriptions to Disney Plus and Hulu through Verizon’s Plus-Play (+play) streaming marketplace.
Verizon’s marketplace also offers unique bundles that can’t be found anywhere else, including a package that includes the ad-supported tiers of Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) Max for just $10 per month. Another bundle includes the ad-free versions of Max and AMC Plus for $25 per month, or $6 less than the cost of each service on its own.
Verizon customers are only eligible for the bundles and discounts offered through Plus-Play if they maintain at least one active line of wireless service with the company, or if they subscribe to another product like Verizon Home Internet or Verizon Fios. The end result is that customers pay less for services they would already buy outside the Verizon ecosystem, and subscribers are less likely to switch to another carrier.
Magid says consumers are 15 percent more likely to commit to a subscription video service if they are able to bundle it with another product, whether it’s through a telecom offering or something else.
“In the low-to-no-growth market that is now streaming, growth only comes from stealing share,” Kate Morgan, the Executive Vice President of Global Media, Entertainment and Games at Magid, said in a statement. “With an increasing proportion of subscribers now accustomed to dropping and resubscribing services, urgently need to stabilize at least a proportion of their subscriber base. Bundling, whether with friends, or, even frenemies, is a smart and strategic answer to that.”
Some companies have already started to take note. Comcast recently introduced their own bundle offering, called Stream Saver, that allows customers of its Xfinity TV or Xfinity Internet products to purchase Apple TV Plus and the ad-supported tiers of Netflix and Peacock Premium for $15 per month. Customers can also add a subscription to the skinny streaming pay TV service called Now TV for an additional $15 per month. The cost of either Stream Saver bundle is automatically added to a customer’s Xfinity service bill.
Subscription management is just one reason why consumers are attracted to streaming bundles. Cost is another element, especially as streaming services adjust the price of their offerings. Nearly all the major streaming services in the United States implemented an upward price adjustment within the past 18 months.
