Good, Cheap, and Has All the Shows You Want
Can new video bundles finally deliver on all 3 promises?
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Good, Cheap, and Has All the Shows You Want
If you've ever had to hire someone for a home improvement job, you may know this adage: "Good, cheap, or fast – pick two." Meaning, if you want the job done well and inexpensively, it's going to take forever to finish. Or if you want a quality job done quickly, it ain't gonna be cheap.
Adapting this to the streaming entertainment world, consider this: "Good, cheap, or all the shows you want – pick two". As much as consumers want to get all three, the fragmentation of streaming services and competitive interests have continued to thwart an "all-in-one" solution.
As new bundles emerge, what's the ideal solution?
When the streaming wars hit high stride about five years ago, many services delivered on "cheap" and "good", but fell short on "all the shows you want". Viewers were forced to cobble together various sources, share passwords, or add and drop services willy-nilly, resulting in high churn rates and weak loyalties.
To make matters worse, “cheap” is vanishing due to rapidly increasing subscription fees and crackdowns on password sharing and even “good” is taking a hit as streamers cut production costs on original content and resort to more reality programming and licensing old series.
However, recently announced bundles from Comcast (Streamsaver, offering a 30% price discount on bundled Peacock/Netflix/Apple TV+) and the upcoming Disney+/Max bundle are the next great hope to solve for "all the shows you want." Will they be the anti-churn magic bullet? Here are four findings to consider.
Breaking up with a bundle is harder than ditching a single service.
A recent Hub survey confirms that the right bundle can help to deliver a more streamlined content mix consumers are less likely to cancel. More than a third (37%) of consumers agree they are much less likely to cancel a bundled subscription of multiple services compared with a single service subscription. This sentiment is even stronger (40%) among those consumers who are already subscribing to 4 or more separate services.
It's not just about price.
Recent findings also confirm canceling services is as much about a service's inability to deliver on content as about saving money. Half (50%) of cancelers say the services are too expensive ("not enough value") or they canceled to save money ("financial reasons"). But nearly as many are citing concerns with limited content: 48% say there were "no more shows of interest" to watch, and 42% say they only signed up to watch one show and then canceled. Individual services simply can't deliver on a whole household's tastes and interests, making room for new bundles to step in to help.
In a trade-off ("MaxDiff") survey exercise, Hub asked consumers to prioritize the things they consider most valuable in a TV or streaming service. Unlike a standard preference question, this technique forces consumers to define a clear hierarchy of what matters most, revealing the relative importance of key price vs. content drivers.
Low price and ad-free (or ad-supported) viewing options are critical.
The chart above shows the rank in order of importance. Price is clearly the top driver which matters most to people. And ad-free still matters to many. So, reminding them of options to watch with or without ads can build transparency and loyalty.
Specific content drivers can motivate unique audiences. Alongside pricing priorities, services can consider these specific content-related attributes that stand out in driving value:
New theatrical movies. Movies are longtime subscription drivers that put premium channels like HBO and Showtime on the map; and according to recent Hub findings, people still value being able to watch at home the big screen movies they missed in theaters.
Original/exclusive shows. Known franchises have also always drawn users to sign up for premium services. But fandoms – and content considered “on-brand” for a particular streamer – can be niche. Emphasizing a wider portfolio of originals available from multiple bundled services can sweeten the pot.
Live sports. Sports are a key bundle driver (for sports fans) that will finally make its mark in streaming in the coming year – but new offerings like the Venu sports bundle (WBD/Fox/ESPN) will need to be clear about what leagues and teams are being offered.
Getting closer to a bundle that delivers good, cheap and everything you want
Emphasizing the right mix of price/content advantages for each of these new bundles will be a challenge. Especially since they need to be tailored to different consumer segments. Both price and content can be strategically used for both subscriber acquisition and retention efforts, helping to deliver "all the shows you want" in ways the old cable bundle could only dream of.
Jason Platt Zolov is an entertainment research and strategy consultant with over 25 years experience, having spent most of his career at HBO (Warner Bros Discovery), analyzing and delivering data-driven insights illuminating consumer viewing behaviors and preferences. Prior to HBO, he did brand research and pilot testing at Paramount’s Spike TV, and was a Producer of independent films in Los Angeles.
ICYMI: Hub in the News
YouTube is already ubiquitous. Now it’s becoming indispensable.
“These results are a reminder that number of subscribers isn’t a proxy for engagement. YouTube Premium has far fewer users than Netflix, for instance. But more of those who use YouTube Premium find it to be indispensable. As the streaming entertainment market matures, keeping existing users is a higher priority than attracting new ones. And ‘must have’ sources are less likely to be canceled.” —
principal at Hub.
YouTube is no longer the home of cat videos and “Charlie bit my finger.” On the contrary, it’s now the #1 platform and #2 media company on Nielsen’s gauge of TV consumption. Leveraging Hub’s semi-annual Battle Royale survey, here are 4 takes on the growing importance of YouTube in consumers’ entertainment ecosystem.
Business Insider: YouTube has become the ultimate 'must-have' service for consumers and kicked Netflix out of the top 5
AdExchanger: The Parade Of Performance Pluses; YouTube And Netflix Battle It Out
Advanced Television: Research: YouTube becoming indispensable
TVTech: Survey: Users Regard YouTube as Must-Have Service
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About Hub Entertainment Research
Hub Entertainment Research, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023, tracks how technology is changing the way people find, choose, and consume entertainment content: from TV and movies to gaming, music, podcasts, and social video. Hub’s studies have covered the most important trends in providers, devices, and technologies since 2013. We work with the largest TV networks, pay TV operators, streaming providers, technology companies, and studios to assess the present and forecast the future.
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