Things are always changing, we all can choose what we want depending on cost and where you live.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
On Monday, the telecom giant Verizon announced a $10 per month deal that includes the ad tiers of both Netflix and Max. That’s a 40 percent discount compared to their standard prices.
And it’s notable because while Max has offered discounted pricing before (Max just offered its ad tier for $3 per month for Black Friday), Netflix has notably not offered any discounts or wholesale prices on its plans for many years.
To be certain, it is not clear whether Netflix is offering a wholesale price to Verizon or how the discount cost is being shared among the three companies, but the 40 percent discount suggests that either Verizon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix or some combination thereof is helping to subsidize those costs.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said at a UBS conference Monday morning that the bundle is something that “nobody else can do” and that forming new bundles is a priority for the telecom company.
Verizon, it should be noted, has offered Netflix in its bundles before, but it has never done so for the ad tier, and has suggested that in the past it was shouldering the cost of Netflix in its other bundles.
The launch of Netflix’s ad tier a year ago, at a lower price point, seems to have been a tipping point, with Netflix executives having noted that it is generating better margins on that tier than its base ad-free tier.
At the same time, another streaming service that has been reluctant to bundle seems more open to it. Apple TV+ has held some talks with Paramount about an Apple TV+/Paramount+ bundle, sources confirm, though exactly what that bundle will look like remains unclear (it could happen through an intermediary like Verizon).
Apple TV+ does not have an ad tier yet, but it did recently raise prices, making fighting churn a priority. Apple has had success with a bundle of its own services (Apple One includes services like Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News and cloud storage), but as it seeks to grow its streaming video service to profitability, it seems open to partnering with other players in the space to keep subscriptions consistent and to reduce churn.
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I still like the fact that to start or cancel a streaming subscription is a cake walk compared to dealing with a ISP provided video on demand subscription. The same goes with utilizing a satellite service such as SiriusXM in the states. You ever been on the web, want to cancel and they force you to go through a service rep gauntlet that goes out of their way to avoid allowing customer to cancel their service? At least with all these streaming VoD hosts it's easy peasy even if they do increase the prices they charge to cancel. But as this article points out there are other ways to get discounted streaming auto or video on demand for less money if you just look for it.
Netflix and Apple Open Door to Bundling With Streaming Rivals
A Verizon-backed Netflix and Max deal, and talks between Apple and Paramount, suggest that streaming bundles may be about to get bigger and better.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
After years of mostly sitting on the sidelines, two streaming companies that have long been reluctant to bundle their wares with competitor services seem a bit more open to the idea.
On Monday, the telecom giant Verizon announced a $10 per month deal that includes the ad tiers of both Netflix and Max. That’s a 40 percent discount compared to their standard prices.
And it’s notable because while Max has offered discounted pricing before (Max just offered its ad tier for $3 per month for Black Friday), Netflix has notably not offered any discounts or wholesale prices on its plans for many years.
To be certain, it is not clear whether Netflix is offering a wholesale price to Verizon or how the discount cost is being shared among the three companies, but the 40 percent discount suggests that either Verizon, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix or some combination thereof is helping to subsidize those costs.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said at a UBS conference Monday morning that the bundle is something that “nobody else can do” and that forming new bundles is a priority for the telecom company.
Verizon, it should be noted, has offered Netflix in its bundles before, but it has never done so for the ad tier, and has suggested that in the past it was shouldering the cost of Netflix in its other bundles.
The launch of Netflix’s ad tier a year ago, at a lower price point, seems to have been a tipping point, with Netflix executives having noted that it is generating better margins on that tier than its base ad-free tier.
At the same time, another streaming service that has been reluctant to bundle seems more open to it. Apple TV+ has held some talks with Paramount about an Apple TV+/Paramount+ bundle, sources confirm, though exactly what that bundle will look like remains unclear (it could happen through an intermediary like Verizon).
Apple TV+ does not have an ad tier yet, but it did recently raise prices, making fighting churn a priority. Apple has had success with a bundle of its own services (Apple One includes services like Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News and cloud storage), but as it seeks to grow its streaming video service to profitability, it seems open to partnering with other players in the space to keep subscriptions consistent and to reduce churn.
=======
I still like the fact that to start or cancel a streaming subscription is a cake walk compared to dealing with a ISP provided video on demand subscription. The same goes with utilizing a satellite service such as SiriusXM in the states. You ever been on the web, want to cancel and they force you to go through a service rep gauntlet that goes out of their way to avoid allowing customer to cancel their service? At least with all these streaming VoD hosts it's easy peasy even if they do increase the prices they charge to cancel. But as this article points out there are other ways to get discounted streaming auto or video on demand for less money if you just look for it.
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