Streaming video on demand, as we know it today, began as an antidote to the cable TV bundle viewers had come to revile. And yet consumers’ frustration with the rigidity of cable has given way to frustration with the vast field of à la carte streaming options, fueling a pendulum swing back toward a bundled offering.
Variety Intelligence Platform’s special report “Streaming Service Bundles” explores that pendulum swing with a data-driven look at both the market conditions underlying the shift and the various types of major SVOD bundles available in the U.S. market.
Consumer surveys show many users are uncertain of their monthly SVOD bills: paying for services they don’t use, overwhelmed by the number and cost of platforms available and disgruntled with the fractured ecosystem requiring multiple accounts and billing sources — hence the increasing demand for bundles. Viewers are eager for options that can simplify their experience, with fewer subscriptions, fewer apps and more content in fewer places.
These options span much more than the popular Disney Bundle (which offers packaged subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+) and so-called “hard bundles” that combine separate services’ content into one app (i.e., Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and the new Paramount+ With Showtime). In this report, you’ll find analysis of:
- Streaming aggregators like Prime Video Channels and Verizon’s +play
- Smart TV and connected TV devices’ role in bundling
- Hulu’s third-party add-on subscriptions
- Wireless/SVOD deals that have proliferated since T-Mobile’s “Netflix on Us”
- Why Peacock has been the only SVOD to participate in a long-term broadband/pay TV bundle
- Apple One and Amazon Prime’s unique space in the market
- Walmart+ and its attempt to compete with Prime
It should be evident from this list that the streaming bundle space has rapidly expanded and diversified over the past few years, and current trends suggest it will only grow in importance.
Users are already increasingly subscribing to SVOD services via aggregation platforms: An Antenna study found more than half of gross U.S. subscriber additions for major SVODs in 2022 came through these routes.
Meanwhile, a global study by research firm Omdia projected that by 2028 bundles with pay TV, broadband or wireless plans will generate 70 percent of OTT video net sub adds and constitute a fourth of global SVOD subscriptions.
Together, aggregators and telco bundles represent perhaps the biggest growth opportunity for streamers as subscriber growth stagnates. VIP+’s comprehensive study is your guide to both the growing field of these offerings and the trends and challenges facing bundlers as the streaming business continues to transform.
