Paramount+ and Showtime bundle price hike
ViacomCBS has increased the price for its Paramount+ and Showtime OTT streaming bundle from $9.99/month to $11.99/month for the ad-supported Essential plan and from $12.99/month to $14.99/month for the Premium plan. The bundles are also available at annual rates of $119.99 and $149.99, respectively. Grandfathered CBS All Access Limited Commercials plan subscribers can add Showtime for an additional $9/month for a total bundled subscription price $14.99/month.
The NPD Take:
- Content costs are simply too high to sustain many of the early discounts customers were provided for streaming services.
- Nearly every media company is starting to bundle their services. Look for the up-coming strategy from Warner-Discovery as the companies merge their streaming assets.
Comcast and Apple’s cross-platform app distribution deal
Comcast announced that it has reached a broad distribution agreement with Apple that will bring its streaming apps to Apple’s platforms and vice versa. The Apple TV and Apple TV+ apps will launch on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex platforms and XClass smart TVs along with the new Sky Glass TVs and Sky Q platform available to Sky subscribers in Europe. At the same time, the Xfinity Stream and Sky Go apps will launch on Apple TV devices. The launch comes shortly after Comcast and Sky both kicked off their smart TV strategies.
The NPD Take:
- This deal will expand Apple TV+ reach as their apps get broader visibility on the new Xfinity platforms.
- This is another demonstration of operating system owners becoming the new TV providers.