As customers stack less, what makes a good streaming bundle?
As customers stack less, what makes a good streaming bundle?
New data from Hub leads to an interesting discussion of what elements are needed to make a good streaming bundle.
Will there be more streaming bundles available in the future? It’s a good bet, as audiences are less and less willing (or in some cases able) to pay for a stack of five or six subscriptions at their original retail prices. A new survey from Hub Research shows that viewers are stacking less and keeping an eye out for bundles more, and with that in mind, I’ll share some of my own opinions on what makes a good streaming bundle as well. After you’ve gone through the data and read my take on the situation, feel free to join the conversation in the comments at the bottom of the article.
Key Details:
- Smaller stacks: The number of viewers who stack three or more top streamers is down 11% this year.
- The bundle is the key: Users of four top streamers said the inclusion of that service in a package deal was an important reason for use.
- Multifaceted: Price, complimentary content, and simplicity of use are all highly important for making a good bundle.
The data from Hub shows that the number of viewers who are stacking three or more of the biggest-name subscription streaming services is falling — and fast. In 2024, 61% of respondents said they were subscribed to three or more of the “Big 7” streaming services: Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+.
However, through the first four months of 2025, that number has fallen to 52%, a decline of nine percentage points in just one year.
As the willingness to pay full price for a large number of streaming services falls, the interest in bundles rises. Hub’s numbers show that subscribers of Disney+, Hulu, Max, and Prime Video all say that one of the most important reasons for using that service is that it came as part of a package deal.
Whether it is the price benefits that cord-cutters receive from buying in bulk, the simplicity of grouping multiple subscriptions into a single bill, the ease of offers provided by other services, or something else, bundles are becoming an even more important part of the streaming industry.
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These numbers from Hub serve as a good jumping-off point to talk about what exactly makes for a good bundle. Obviously, the most important factor is price; for a bundle to be effective, it has to offer a significant discount off of what customers would pay to watch the included services individually.
Take the Disney Bundle, for example; there are multiple iterations of this offering, with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ all included in various combinations. Customers save at least 40% off of what they’d pay to sign up for these services by themselves when they go with the bundle, and adding Hulu with ads to Disney+ costs just $1 per month more than Disney+ by itself.
Giving consumers the power of choice is a really important aspect of a good bundle as well. The Disney Bundle does this too; it allows users to pick between ad-supported plans or ad-free on Disney+ and Hulu, letting viewers pay a bit more to access additional features or giving them the option of saving money by accepting ads.
Complimentary content is another important feature of a good bundle. Bundling services together that each offer the same type of shows and movies isn’t always the best idea, as customers will think there’s too much overlap to make the bundle a good value. Other than the rare breed of cord-cutters who has to see every release from each of the major streamers, there is generally more than enough content available on a small handful ot services to keep most viewers satisfied.
That’s why the StreamSaver bundle available to Xfinity TV and internet customers is a good example of an effective combination. It carries Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV+, and each of these streamers does something a little different. Popular originals and a huge library of general entertainment are Netflix’s specialties, and Apple TV+ brings its brand of prestige TV to the table. Peacock comes with a little of everything, but its real contribution to the bundle is live sports.
Ease of use is another important aspect of a bundle, and Hub’s research confirms as much. Seventy percent of respondents to its survey say that a service which allows customers to choose, manage, and pay for different kinds of subscriptions in one place is somewhat or very appealing.
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That explains the popularity of a platform like Prime Video, which lets customers sign up for supplementary subscriptions and keep all of the bills in one place. But a bundle needs more to be a truly customer-friendly proposition in my eyes; it has to be easy to see exactly what you get with all your bundled subscriptions, ideally in the same app. That’s why I appreciated the move Disney made to shift a big percentage of Hulu titles to the Disney+ app in 2024, and the launch of an ESPN tile on the streamer later in the year. It lets customers access more of the content they’re paying for in the bundle in one place, instead of forcing them to bounce around apps when they want to see different titles.
Ease of use when it comes to billing is a somewhat underrated aspect of bundles, and it’s something that Prime Video particularly struggles with. A good bundle should show buyers the total price they’re paying for every service on the same screen, instead of forcing them to enter a different app each time they want to see what that app is costing them. All aspects of the bundle’s interface should be easy to use as well; buyers should know what they can watch, how much it’s costing them, and how to cancel if they want to, all in a few clicks. Mobile companies do a good job of this, which is why bundling streamers through a mobile plan is so popular.
One thing I’d like to see all bundles do a little better is to modernize their Continue Watching rows. When I turn on a show or movie on the Hulu app, I’d like to see it appear in Continue Watching on Disney+ the next time I log in. To be sure, I can go to the same episode or movie in the Disney+ app if I want to continue watching that title on Disney+, but I’d rather be shown exactly the spot I left off at a glance.
The demand for streaming bundles will only grow in the coming years, and streaming companies have to be conscious of the need to make their products accessible to customers. Slapping a 20% discount on three streamers and calling it a day won’t be enough going forward, so executives will have to make sure they’ve got a plan in place to make their bundles effective products in a competitive marketplace.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”