With bundling already one of the industry’s biggest stories this year, May saw the official launch of StreamSaver, a bundle deal which sees US pay TV provider Comcast combine its own streaming service Peacock with Netflix and Apple TV+. The StreamSaver bundle is available to Xfinity customers in the US and combines Netflix standard with ads, Peacock Premium with ads, and ad-free Apple TV+, for a total price of $15 per month, against the $23 or so the standalone services would cost in total if bought separately. This bundle follows a previously announced deal between Hulu, Disney+ and Max from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

StreamSaver provides subscribers with access to over 8200 movies and over 8100 TV seasons (as of April 2024) as well as a variety of live sports, including MLB on Apple TV+, Premier League on Peacock and WWE on Netflix. The combined catalogue would account for, on average, 48% of the top 100 popular titles available on SVoD in the US, according to Ampere’s proprietary Popularity Score* over the past year. This is compared to 40% for the Disney/WBD bundle. 

With ad-supported plans becoming increasingly prevalent, this high proportion of popular titles and diverse exclusive live sports can effectively enhance total viewership and grow advertising revenue, with viewer engagement and churn management now the priorities for the big global streamers as they seek profitability.

For Peacock and Apple TV+, the potential benefits are slightly different. The bundle has the potential to bring in a good number of new subscribers, especially those who currently take only Netflix. According to Ampere’s consumer research, the overlap in uptake of the three services is low: Only 10% of Netflix consumers take all three while just 22% take both Netflix and Peacock. Additionally, streamers such as Apple TV+ could struggle to attract and keep subscribers as standalone services with a relatively small content catalogue and high pricing (as Apple TV+ only has an ad-free tier). Bundling the service in with others should help to bring additional subscribers on board but also retain existing users.

It’s also a groundbreaking move for Netflix as this is the first time the market leader has been bundled directly with other major SVoD services in the US. With Netflix’s current focus now more on reducing churn than simply adding new subscribers, bundles have proven to be an effective way to mitigate churn. Although the cost of subscription is discounted, stickier customers can effectively improve engagement, as Netflix looks increasingly to advertising revenue to increase ARPU. 

Another feature of the current US streaming market is that SVoD consumers are showing signs of fatigue over the sheer number of services available to them. This kind of ‘super’ bundle of services, which makes it easier for subscribers to manage their portfolio of services through one provider, is set to be a growing feature in the increasingly saturated US market, especially for those platforms with lower penetration rates such as Paramount+, Max and Apple TV+.