Disney and Warner Bros. officially launched its streaming bundle in the US, the companies announced on Thursday. The bundle, previously announced in May, brings together Disney+, Hulu, and Max streaming service at a price point of $16.99 a month with ads or $29.99 for the ad-free version.
The developments come as media companies face pressure from investors to scale their streaming services and achieve profitability. At the same time, the companies are dealing with more competition from tech giants like Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL), which are gobbling up streaming deals.
The consumer has also become more picky. On average, US consumers subscribe to four streaming services and spend about $61 per month, according to the latest Digital Media Trends report from Deloitte. That means fewer opportunities to retain loyal subscribers over time.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav previously said the upcoming bundle will lead to several benefits for the company, including incremental subscriber growth and longer-term retention.
“Ultimately, you’ve got to follow the consumer,” he said in May. “We need to come together ourselves and provide a better consumer experience, a more compelling and exciting offering, or there will be other companies who’ll do it for us.”
“The ability for us and Disney together to reach out to consumers, it’s a stronger business,” he said at the time.
The concept of bundling isn’t new. Companies in the space have been doing it with their own services for years. Apple, for instance, offers Apple One, which combines Apple TV+ with other services like Apple Music and Apple Arcade. The bundle launched globally in late 2020.
Disney, which has also been offering a bundle with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, officially began its domestic rollout of a one-app experience late last year that incorporates Hulu content via Disney+ — a similar play to Paramount’s Showtime combination as well as the integration of HBO Max and Discovery+, which both merged their respective services last year.
The move toward partnerships among competing media companies, though, has gained traction.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. announced a sports streaming partnership with Disney’s ESPN and Fox (FOXA), set to debut later this fall. In December, WBD partnered with Netflix (NFLX) on a $10, ad-supported bundle offered through Verizon (VZ)..
