Altice U.S.-owned pay TV provider Optimum has launched a new offer that allows its cable TV subscribers to access an extended free trial of a Disney streaming bundle as part of their package.
Starting next week, Optimum will launch a new streaming portal that gives subscribers of its Optimum Extra TV and Optimum Everything TV packages a complementary six-month trial of the Disney Bundle Duo with ads, which includes Disney Plus and Hulu.
The normal retail cost of the Disney Bundle Duo with ads is $11 per month, meaning Optimum subscribers have the opportunity to save $66 during the life of their extended free trial. The trial will also be offered to Optimum Internet customers.
If a streamer converts from a free trial user to a paid customer, Optimum said the cost of Disney’s streaming services will be billed directly to their pay TV or Internet account.
“The offer is the first of many the company plans to bring to customers as it continues to evolve its value-add experience suite,” a spokesperson for Optimum said in a statement to The Desk on Thursday.
“We know that our customers want more optionality when it comes to their connectivity and entertainment services, which is why we are excited to collaborate with Disney to deliver a new bundled offer that helps streamline consumers’ Optimum services and their streaming subscriptions,” said Mike Parker, the President of Consumer Services at Optimum. “As we continue to enhance and evolve our bundle offerings and add-on experience suite, we are enabling customers to build their own curated content selection through Optimum, giving them more choice, flexibility and value to watch the content they want, how they want it.”
As described, the subscription management platform launched by Optimum sounds similar to ones offered by Verizon and Comcast, which utilize a technology service called the Digital Vending Machine powered by subscription management developer Bango.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Optimum’s new subscription management platform was connected to Bango’s Digital Vending Machine, or if the company was using a different provider.
The Disney streaming offer from Optimum comes at a time when pay TV companies are increasingly looking for ways to retain subscribers and attract new customers by marketing programming packages that are inclusive of certain streaming services.
Over the past few years, some of Optimum’s peers, including Charter and DirecTV, have moved to include the ad-supported tiers network-owned streaming services — including ones operated by Disney — within newer, lower-priced pay TV packages, including Spectrum TV Select and DirecTV’s MyEntertainment plans. Optimum’s offering is different, in that customers won’t have ongoing access to the Disney Duo Bundle with ads if they don’t pay outright for the service after six months.
On Thursday, Altice U.S. said its residential customer churn associated with Optimum TV and Optimum Internet reached its lowest point in three years during the first three months (Q1) of 2025, marking an improvement in both businesses. Optimum ended Q1 with around 2.1 million Optimum TV subscribers and nearly 4.2 million broadband Internet customers.
