Get ready for the next cable-like streaming bundle: Comcast later this month will launch a three-way bundle — with Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ — offered at a deep discount, Comcast chief Brian Roberts said.
Dubbed StreamSaver, the bundle will be available to all Comcast broadband, TV and mobile customers, Roberts said, speaking Tuesday at MoffettNathanson’s 2024 Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York. (Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
The three streaming services, Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+, will “come at a vastly reduced price to anything available today,” Roberts said, although he didn’t reveal any pricing. The goal is to “add value to consumers” and “take dollars out” of other people’s streaming businesses, he added, while reinforcing Comcast’s broadband service offerings.
“This will be a pretty compelling package,” Roberts promised.
Comcast’s impending launch of the StreamSaver bundle come as other media companies have been assembling similar offerings.
Last week, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a three-way bundle comprising Max, Disney+ and Hulu, to be available starting this summer in the U.S. (with pricing TBA). In addition, Disney, WBD and Fox Corp. have formed a joint venture to launch a streaming sports bundle, slated to debut this fall. Critics have alleged the venture, which some have dubbed “Spulu” (a combo of “sports” and “Hulu”), is anticompetitive and violates antitrust law.
Like the other streaming bundling strategies, Comcast’s forthcoming Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ package is an effort to reduce cancelation rates (aka “churn”) and provide a more efficient means of subscriber acquisition — coming as the traditional cable TV business continues to deteriorate.
Comcast’s StreamSaver bundle will hit the market ahead of another price hike for the standalone Peacock service, which goes into effect for new customers prior to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. Beginning in mid-July, the price for Peacock Premium (with ads) will increase by $2 to $7.99 per month and Peacock Premium Plus (mostly ad-free) is also going up by $2 to $13.99 per month. The new prices will be effective starting July 18 for new Peacock customers and for existing subscribers with their next billing date on or after Aug. 17.
Also at the MoffettNathanson conference, Roberts was asked by analyst Craig Moffett about NBC’s reported bidding for NBA media rights but Roberts declined to discuss the status of the negotiations.