We’re at the height of the streaming wars; over the last few years content distribution has become more fragmented than ever, audiences are overrun with choice and the current pressure on household finances can leave consumers overwhelmed by the number of subscriptions they need to manage and pay for.
And with costs continually rising, the result has been high churn and a stall in subscriptions as many “cable cutters” realise that the combined cost of all their streaming services has become either comparable to or exceeded that of an average cable plan.
According to online platform Bango, the average US consumer spends nearly $1,000 a year on streaming services. And when combined with internet fees, this can be more than the average cable TV plan.
Consumers are coming back to the idea of a single point of payment, a single content hub that will give them access to all the content they want – it’s just easier!
The streaming services recognise this, and are beginning to partner up to offer bundled subscription packages providing access to content from multiple platforms.
In the US, Disney and Warner Bros recently announced a new streaming package bundling Disney+, Hulu and Max into a single discounted subscription. Hulu offer a package bundling in Disney+ and ESPN to their own offering, but these aren’t the only ones.
Amazon offer access to other providers content through their “channels” feature, allowing users to “add on” subscriptions to the likes of Starz, Showtime, Paramount+, AMC Plus to name but a few – and while there is not always a bundled discount here, viewers do get the convenience of a single payment gateway and a single point of access.
In the UK, both Sky and Virgin offer “stream only” services with bundled access to other streaming providers content through “add-ons”, again all through a single point of access and a single payment gateway. And EE are bundling Netflix, NOW and Freeview as well as providing access to Sky Stream.
All of these models hark back to the traditional cable packages of old, the main difference being that your access is no longer completely tied to a “wired” box in the corner of the lounge. Cable TV reimagined for a world that’s always online and always on the go? – maybe.
When services are bundled, customers often find it easier to manage their subscriptions and discover new content, which can enhance their overall viewing experience. Customers also feel like they are getting better value for money, which in turn can increase loyalty and help to reduce churn.
Could this be the beginning of a convergence? Are we moving back to an age of a single subscription to a preferred supplier with only minimal differences in the content that can be accessed? Will the SVOD streamers start to offer more FAST and linear scheduled content too?
And as most services now include some level of advertising, could this mean more data sharing, better audience measurement for streamed viewing, better targeting and a boost to advertising revenues for all?
Is it a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same? Time will surely tell, but in the meantime it could well be worth re-evaluating the cost and value of your current subscriptions.
