• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 10, 2024

New research shows that bundling is a big opportunity for premium streamers looking to add subscribers in a mature streaming business marketplace. But this depends on the combination of platforms.

Ampere Analysis says the Walt Disney-Warner Bros. Discovery’s proposed bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and Max shows that just 15% of subscribers currently take all three. 

Another new bundle -- offered by Comcast, for its mobile, broadband, and cable TV customers -- shows just 10% of subscribers take all three of Netflix, Peacock and Apple TV+. Comcast owns NBCUniversal and its Peacock streaming service. 

Ampere Analysis note it has become harder in a maturer streaming business to add new subscribers -- especially for those medium-sized and small streaming platforms. 

“As the subscription video market in the US has become increasingly saturated, new subscribers are harder to find, which makes retention all the more important,” writes Daniel Monaghan, research manager at Ampere Analysis

Services such as Peacock and Apple TV+ plus could make significant gains in combination with the industry’s premium streamer leader, Netflix.

Even a bundle of just two of any of these major premium streamers can also mean strong results. For example, there is just 4% of subscribers who take both Disney+ and Max. There is only a 2% overlap when it comes to Peacock and Apple TV+. 

For Hulu and Max, just 7% subscribers take both -- and only 7% take both Netflix and Apple TV+.

It seem Walt Disney, starting with its original bundle back in late 2019 -- Disney+ and Hulu/ESPN+ -- had the right idea. 

Ampere says that 59% are less likely to "churn" -- or opt out of -- that bundle within 12 months than those that take Disney+ alone.

These are U.S. streaming subscribers who “regularly subscribe, cancel, and resubscribe.” 

Ampere’s first-quarter 2024 research was produced  between  February 5 and  March 6 of anonymized subscription receipt data from a panel of three million opted-in U.S. email users.

Overall, a huge chunk of streaming subscribers are what the authors call “re-subscribers,” at 42%. The research also says that re-subscribers are mostly younger viewers (18-44 years old), and more likely to be in family households.

The problem of re-subscribers is that heavy TV users are 40% more likely to experience “subscription fatigue.”

According to the research, 21% of this group wants “unified access of content across different services.”