Fubo price increase
Fubo raised the price of its “Essential” plan by $5/month and it now costs $85/month. This plan does not include regional sports networks (RSN). Interestingly, you can move up to the next “Pro” tier which includes regional NBA, NHL, and MLB games for the same $85/month as the Essential tier, but Fubo will tack on a separate fee for access to RSN programming. This latest price hike comes after Disney and Fubo recently announced plans to merge their live TV services. With this increase Fubo’s base plan now exceeds YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.
The Circana Take:
- Just like traditional cable TV, increased programming costs result in increased subscriber costs. Despite the pending consolidation of Fubo and Hulu, consumers still have many options, but they all now cost about the same or require content trade-offs.
Comcast’s new bundle
Comcast announced a sports and news TV package containing 50 networks for $70/month. Consumers need to subscribe to Xfinity’s Internet service and can access the networks via an X1 set-top box or streaming through the Xfinity Stream app. Sports networks include ESPN, FS1 and Golf Channel; local news networks include ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC; cable news networks include CNBC, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Comcast is also including a Peacock subscription and 300 hours of cloud DVR storage. One notable missing piece are RSNs. Comcast, and others such as DirecTV, are trying to fill a void left by Venu Sports’ recent dissolvement. A “void” for a service that never launched.
The Circana Take:
- Numerous providers are marketing sports packages with a varying degree of programming inclusion. The high prices will ensure only dedicated fans sign-up.
Prime Video and Lionsgate team up
Prime Video and Lionsgate signed a deal which gives Prime an exclusive streaming window on Lionsgate films starting with Lionsgate’s 2026 theatrical releases. This will follow an initial run on Starz which has first exclusive rights. Prime Video will also have rights to movies from 2025 and will be able to license library movies and TV shows. Some of the Lionsgate films include the next chapter of the Hunger Games series, “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” and a new season of “Now You See Me.” Franchise access from Lionsgate’s catalog include “John Wick,” “Twilight,” “Divergent,” “Saw,” “Nurse Jackie” and “Weeds.”
The Circana Take:
- Prime Video continues to ramp up its content offering from the recent announcement of PBS broadcast stations, Thursday night NFL and now programming like Weeds. Bottom line, Amazon is building a more well-rounded programming mix to solve for daily engagement gaps.