The cable-ification of streaming rolls on, with Comcast announcing that the cable company will launch a streaming bundle containing Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV Plus by the end of May. The bundle will be offered at a “deep discount,” though how much that discount will be was not shared by Comcast.
The new bundle is called StreamSaver and was revealed by Comcast chief Brian Roberts during the MoffettNathanson 2024 Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York City.
As reported by Variety, the trio of some of the best streaming services will “come at a vastly reduced price to anything in the market today,” Roberts said.
“We’ve been bundling video successfully and creatively for 60 years, and so this is the latest iteration of that,” Roberts continued. “I think this will be a pretty compelling package.”
Streamsaver will be exclusively available to Comcast internet and TV customers.
Currently, if you were to pay for the most basic service from each service it would cost you $22.97 a month. This is the cheapest bundle using ad-supported Peacock Premium, which is currently $5.99 a month (though it's increasing to $7.99 in July, just in time for the Olympics), the basic ad-supported plan with Netflix for $6.99 a month, and Apple TV Plus which only has one tier at $9.99
To go ad-free, you’ll have to pony up $13.99 a month for Peacock Premium Plus, Netflix Standard for $15.49 a month and $9.99 for Apple TV Plus. That would net you a monthly cost of $39.47.
The StreamSaver is launching just as other streamers are getting in on bundling as well. Disney and Hulu were already packaged together in March. Just last week, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced a three-way bundle that combines Disney Plus, Hulu and Max. Pricing has not been announced, but we should see the bundle available at the beginning of June.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are also teaming up with Fox to launch a streaming sports bundle. It’s supposed to feature ESPN Plus and linear TV networks and is set to debut in the fall in time for the NFL and College football seasons. We still don’t have a price for this sports bundle and Fubo almost immediately sued all three companies in an antitrust lawsuit.
As of this writing, that lawsuit is ongoing, though a preliminary injunction hearing has been set for August 7th.
The biggest ongoing issue with all of these proposed streaming bundles is that we don’t know what the price will be. Will they save customers money, or like cable will the price just get ever higher to the point where we’ll need to find a cutter for our cord-cutter services?
