Verizon Offering Free Netflix Premium with Peacock Purchase

Verizon is offering a year of Netflix Premium at no charge to Verizon Mobile and Home Internet customers who buy an annual subscription to Peacock Premium through its content subscription hub +play. That’s a $275 value (at $22.95 per month) in exchange for a $79.95 Peacock plan, according to the telecom company, which rebranded last month, launching a host of promotional plans in the lead-up to its 2025 silver jubilee. The offer, which started last week, ends August 31. The Peacock push dovetails with parent company NBCUniversal’s presentation of the 2024 Paris Olympics. NBC Sports coverage of the Olympics will include streaming on Peacock. Continue reading Verizon Offering Free Netflix Premium with Peacock Purchase

Verizon Revamps Its Logo, Adds Discounted Streaming Deals

Verizon has restyled its logo and is making a more concerted push for a slice of the home market with the launch of a myHome bundle that pitches savings for those combining home Internet, live TV, streaming, and connected home services like cloud storage. Modeled after the company’s myPlan mobile package, myHome is available to new and existing Verizon customers who can choose among Fios, 5G Home or LTE Home Internet for prices starting at $35 per month. Subscribers can add streaming for $10 per platform and opt for a live-TV package of either Fios TV (where available) or YouTube TV. Continue reading Verizon Revamps Its Logo, Adds Discounted Streaming Deals

Comcast StreamSaver to Bundle Peacock, Netflix, Apple TV+

Comcast broadband and TV customers will be able to subscribe to a streaming bundle that includes Netflix, Apple TV+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts announced this week at the 2024 MoffettNathanson Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York. The package, called StreamSaver, will “come at a vastly reduced price to anything in the market today,” Roberts said, though he did not share pricing. Roberts’ plan comes a week after Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled plans to bundle Max, Disney+ and Hulu starting this summer, with pricing to be announced. Continue reading Comcast StreamSaver to Bundle Peacock, Netflix, Apple TV+

YouTube TV Expands NBA League Pass Choices in Multiview

To the appreciation, if not delight, of sports fans, Google is allowing YouTube TV subscribers to exercise more choice in what games to watch in their multiview windows. YouTube TV offers the option of watching up to four different sporting or news events simultaneously on a single screen. However, it doesn’t allow endless free choice, but presents combination options. Users complained and Google responded by serving up more multiview combinations to choose from, but stopped short of generating customizable multiplex streaming feeds for each user. Continue reading YouTube TV Expands NBA League Pass Choices in Multiview

Hulu Is Joining Netflix in Cracking Down on Password Sharing

Hulu has revised its Terms of Service in an effort to ban password sharing amongst friends and family members outside of a subscriber’s primary personal residence. Hulu has been announcing via email that subscribers will have until March 14 to comply. According to the revised Terms of Service: “If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement.” The move by Hulu follows what has been reported as a successful crackdown on password sharing by Netflix in addition to a record number of subscribers in the fourth quarter. Continue reading Hulu Is Joining Netflix in Cracking Down on Password Sharing

Disney to Purchase Remaining Stake in Hulu from Comcast

Disney announced it plans to purchase the remaining one-third stake in Hulu from Comcast’s NBCUniversal in a move that has been widely expected. The announcement follows Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019, which gave the entertainment giant two-thirds of streaming service Hulu. Disney, which is expected to pay at least $8.61 billion for the remaining stake, currently offers the Hulu service as part of a streaming bundle with its Disney+ and ESPN+ platforms. “The acquisition of Comcast’s stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney’s streaming objectives,” explained the company in a press release. Continue reading Disney to Purchase Remaining Stake in Hulu from Comcast

YouTube TV Will Bundle WBD’s Max with NFL Sunday Ticket

YouTube TV is bundling Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max with its own NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market football package. YouTube parent Google entered into an exclusive, seven-year deal to offer the NFL Sunday Ticket package through YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels, beginning with the 2023 season. Max has become a Sunday Ticket partner as part of a broader deal with WBD that includes getting Google TV behind WBD’s relaunch of HBO as Max. Philipp Schindler, chief business officer for Alphabet and Google, shared news of the promos with analysts during his company’s Q2 earnings call. Continue reading YouTube TV Will Bundle WBD’s Max with NFL Sunday Ticket

Hulu Content Is Coming to Disney+ for ‘One-App Experience’

Disney will soon be incorporating Hulu content on Disney+ in the U.S. said CEO Bob Iger, describing the move toward “a one-app experience” for investors on the company’s quarterly earnings call this week. Iger also confirmed discussions about Hulu’s future with Comcast, which holds a 33 percent stake in the Disney-owned streamer. “Where we are headed is for one experience that would have general entertainment and Disney+ content together,” Iger told investors. “How that ultimately unfolds is to some extent in the hands of Comcast.” Continue reading Hulu Content Is Coming to Disney+ for ‘One-App Experience’

Disney Expands Its Ad Measurement with EDO and Samba TV

Disney Advertising has struck a deal with measurement firm EDO to examine audience engagement across multiple platforms, starting with Hulu. EDO will also provide outcome data, quantifying the effectiveness of streaming campaigns. The agreement allows Disney to provide brands with information detailing the impact of streaming ad exposure “on cross-screen digital behavior like search and site visits,” said Disney Advertising SVP of data enablement and category strategy Danielle Brown from the company’s annual Tech & Data Showcase last week. The company has also expanded its relationship with Samba TV, another vendor in the new currency space. Continue reading Disney Expands Its Ad Measurement with EDO and Samba TV

Verizon’s +Play Rollout Includes a Free Netflix Premium Offer

Verizon is opening its +play streaming hub in beta to mobile, 4G LTE and 5G home Internet customers. To sweeten the deal, the carrier is offering Netflix Premium free for a year to customers that sign-up for “a 12-month or seasonal subscription” to one of its other content partners. Verizon claims there are 20 platforms onboard for the beta launch, among them: HBO Max, Discovery+, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, NFL+ and Peloton. Netflix Premium usually costs $20 per month (or $240 a year) and includes 4K streaming as well as ability to simultaneously download or watch on four devices. Continue reading Verizon’s +Play Rollout Includes a Free Netflix Premium Offer

Disney+ Rolls Out Basic Ad-Supported Tier and New Bundles

Disney+ has launched its anticipated ad-supported tier, Disney+ Basic, for $7.99 per month in the U.S., while the cost of its ad-free Premium subscription bumps up to $10.99 per month. The company has also reconfigured its bundles, adding the Disney Bundle Duo (Disney+ Basic with Hulu’s ad-supported plan) for $9.99 per month, and the Disney Bundle Trio Basic (Disney+ Basic, with ad-supported Hulu and ESPN+) for $12.99 per month. Disney says it’s launching “with more than 100 advertisers across all major categories.” An ad-free Disney Bundle Trio Premium is also being offered, for $19.99 per month. Continue reading Disney+ Rolls Out Basic Ad-Supported Tier and New Bundles

Amazon Prime Video Knocks Netflix from Top Streamer Spot

Amazon Prime Video has overtaken Netflix as the most popular OTT video service in the U.S., according to a new study by Parks Associates, marking the first time Netflix fell from No. 1 in the history of the company’s annual report. Peacock entered the top 10 list for the first time in 2022, debuting at No. 9, while Showtime dropped off. The research firm reports that 83 percent of U.S. broadband households have at least one OTT service, while 23 percent subscribe to nine or more OTT subscriptions. While Netflix, Prime Video and Hulu have traditionally held the top three spots, the list has recently become more varied due to an influx of new players. Continue reading Amazon Prime Video Knocks Netflix from Top Streamer Spot

Disney Could Be Planning to Create a Mega Bundle with Hulu

Speculation is afoot as to the fate of popular subscription streaming service Hulu, initially launched 15 years ago. Disney presently owns 67 percent of the company, and Comcast 33 percent. The two had agreed to come to terms of a sale by January 24, but now there is talk that Disney wants to resolve the matter sooner and is planning to buy out Comcast and integrate Hulu into Disney+, providing access to titles from Disney’s “Star Wars” and Marvel Universe franchises along with popular Hulu originals such as “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Great” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Continue reading Disney Could Be Planning to Create a Mega Bundle with Hulu

Record $7.4B in Theme Parks Propels Profit Surge for Disney

It was a successful fiscal third quarter for The Walt Disney Company, which saw revenue jump 26 percent and profits up 54 percent compared to the same period in 2021. The company, celebrating its centenary, had revenue of $21.5 billion and profits of $1.41 billion (77 cents a share) for the three months ending July 2. Theme park revenue was up more than 70 percent, to $7.4 billion, as the company continued to shake COVID-19 contractions. For an added flourish, Disney+ grew a whopping 31 percent worldwide, adding 14.4 million subscribers to top out at 152 million. Continue reading Record $7.4B in Theme Parks Propels Profit Surge for Disney

Big Tech Drives Up Sports Prices as Amazon, Apple Go All In

Big Tech has become a disruptor in the marketplace for sports rights, with Amazon and Apple bidding against traditional media for rights to NFL and MLB games in addition to college conference competition and Formula 1 racing, according to recent reports. Among the prizes, DirecTV’s expiring rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket, a package that is being shopped with a $2.5 billion annual price tag, $1 billion more than the satellite operator’s current deal, which ends in January. In addition, Google is said to be bidding on behalf of YouTube. Beginning September 15, Amazon Prime Video begins its exclusive carriage deal for “Thursday Night Football.”  Continue reading Big Tech Drives Up Sports Prices as Amazon, Apple Go All In