The gradual integration of adverts hinted that the streaming era was on course to come full circle and basically become regular television all over again, with a new bundle deal involving Netflix furthering the opinion that nothing ever really changes on the small screen.
The entire point of streaming services was to eliminate channel-hopping, remove the scourge of constant advertisements, and provide a one-stop shop for oodles of film and television content that could all be handily located under one digital roof.
However, thanks to the sheer volume of rival platforms to have entered the market, many of the heaviest hitters are seeking to consolidate their footing in an increasingly crowded landscape by partnering up with their most heated rivals to entice prospective new customers with an affordable bundle deal.
Comcast is leading the charge by combining its in-house Peacock service with Netflix and AppleTV+, while Disney is doing pretty much the exact same by shacking up with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max to offer another bundle that comes with the added bonus of Disney+ and Hulu.
Comcast chief Brian Roberts explained that the company have “been bundling video successfully and creatively for 60 years,” and the latest extension of that business model “will be a pretty compelling package” that will hypothetically lead to a significant uptick in subscribers who find themselves either unwilling or unable to shell out for multiple different streamers on a monthly basis.
Of course, Peacock isn’t the most popular platform in the cutthroat world of the streaming wars, with the outfit’s 34 million subscribers lagging way behind the near-270 million of Netflix, so it makes complete sense for Comcast to get into bed with the market leader in terms of nothing but visibility and awareness.
However, one of the major concerns people have is that by bundling so many different streamers together as part of the same package, it marks another step towards returning to the old cable TV model, where viewers would pay to subscribe to various channels on top of the basics that came with signing up.
The major difference – which could yet prove to be a sore point in the aftermath of the writers’ strike – is that whereas cable networks are obligated to pay residuals to those involved in the shows that air on-screen, streaming doesn’t remunerate the creatives to anywhere near the same level. Either way, it’s a sign of the over-saturated times that even the major platforms have been forced to admit they can’t go it alone.
