Failing Streamers AppleTV+ and Paramount+ Looking To Bundle
Apple and Paramount have discussed bundling their streaming services to combat a growing frustration among consumers with the extensive number of platforms available.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies have talked about offering a combination of Paramount+ and Apple TV+ that would cost less than subscribing to both services separately.
The discussions are in their early stages.
To wit:
Netflix revolutionized entertainment by offering consumers on-demand programming from Disney, Paramount, NBC, 21st Century Fox, Lionsgate, and beyond.
The service offered a library of legacy content for around $10 a month, a bargain compared to the increasing cost of cable.
However, those studios eventually calculated they’d be better off building a competitor to Netflix than licensing their content to Netflix.
Thus, the birth of Disney+, Hulu, Max, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV+, AMC+, MGM+, IMDb TV, etc., etc., etc.
Streaming now costs as much, if not more, than cable once you add up all the streamers required to watch the content you want to watch.
And consumers have revolted by unsubscribing.
The average person subscribes to 2.8 streaming services. It's a debate among households about which three to choose. We are sure you can relate.
The industry projected the Streaming Wars to be an arms race for the future of media. Instead, there are questions about the long-term viability of investing in streaming at all.
Particularly, Disney+ has struggled with the combined rate of decreasing subscribers and increasing costs:
See, subscribers are not looking to subscribe to more services. They are looking to pay less and subscribe to fewer.
And thus Paramount+ and Apple TV+ teaming up has the potential, as two of the weaker options.
They don't offer the legacy content of Max. Or the in-demand original programming of Netflix. Or the kid-friendly films of Disney+.
Apple TV+ and Paramount+ had a customer-defection rate—known in the industry as churn—of more than 7% in October, a higher rate than the 5.7% average for the streaming industry as a whole.
As per Antenna data:
A bundle between the two could be specifically appealing to sports fans, who for one price could stream live NFL games on Paramount+, MLB on AppleTV+, and have access to both platforms' soccer offerings.
Not bad.
Apple and Paramount aren't the only companies looking to bundle.
Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav recently said he was open to bundling Max with other streaming services, as well.
Max, which combined HBO Max and Discovery+, would be a particularly useful partner for Peacock, which has a solid sports offering but struggles to produce quality scripted programming.
Streaming used to be convenient. It is no longer.
Streaming is now expensive and confusing. Subscribers often struggle to know which shows are on which service, including me.
The industry needs a change. Perhaps bundling is that change. And Paramount+ and AppleTV+ should be the first to try it, to set that trend.
Let's just hope Paramount+ doesn't have any content that offends the Chinese Communist Party. Apple does not allow that.