It can be hard to keep your ear to the ground when it comes to streaming. The industry is ever-evolving, and most people can be forgiven for only tuning in when their favorite service announces a price increase. But if you’d like to get caught up with all the biggest storylines in the streaming world right now (at least, in my opinion), keep reading! I’ve compiled a list of 10 unanswered questions about top streaming services that I think will be of vital importance to audiences.
When is Netflix Raising Prices Next, and How Much?
Netflix has been awfully quiet as its competitors in the on-demand streaming business have essentially all raised prices in the past year. The last increase for the streamer came on just one plan: the ad-free Basic option, which is no longer available to new customers. In a January letter to shareholders, the company mentioned offhand that it would “occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra” to justify ongoing improvements and help facilitate the creation of new shows, providing a hint that viewers should expect a price increase sometime soon. It feels all but certain that before the end of the year, subscribers on Netflix’s ad-free plans will see the cost of their account go up by at least $1 or $2 per month, and ad-supported customers may see a bump as well.
Will Venu Sports Ever Reach Customers, and How Much Will it Cost?
Venu Sports sounded like a dream when it was first announced in February. A service carrying games from every major sports league and a ton of college games as well would be a boon to sports fans who kept cable for years longer than they would have otherwise, but almost immediately several wrenches were thrown into the works. In its terror at Venu’s assumed ability to poach its customers, Fubo filed an antitrust lawsuit against the joint venture platform, and Congress has had plenty of questions about its potential to disrupt the pay-TV industry as well.
If Venu does actually make it to customers, how much will it cost? The service under construction by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery has been estimated at between $35 and $50 per month, but the only word we’ve gotten from anyone working on the service was a hint from Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch that the price would land in “the higher range of estimates.”
What Happened to Warner Bros. Discovery’s Free Streaming Service?
In November of 2022, WBD CEO David Zaslav said that creating a free ad-supported streaming platform was a “real opportunity” for the company. A few months later, WBD confirmed to The Streamable that they were planning to launch such a service, and would do so in 2023.
Since then…crickets, or close enough. In May, when the company launched its new flagship streaming product Max, streaming chief J.B. Perrette said WBD was still considering a free streamer, but peppered his discussion of the service with phrases like “at some point” and “at the right time.” Since then there have been no updates on WBD’s plans to offer a free streamer, but it has continued to license its free channels to other services like Tubi and Pluto TV.
When is New Disney+/Hulu/Max Bundle Coming, and How Much Will it Be?
In early May, Disney and WBD partnered yet again to announce they were offering customers a new bundle comprised of Disney+, Max and Hulu. The cross-company offering would go on sale sometime this summer, they pledged, though they did not reveal a date or a price for the package.
Well, summer has arrived, and there have been no new updates. I predicted prices of $17.99 per month for an ad-supported version of the bundle, or $29.99 for ad-free plans, but until the companies themselves deign to offer more details about the product, we’re all just guessing.
What Will Disney+ Charge for its New ESPN Tile? What Sports Will it Have?
The news that ESPN content would be available outside a pay-TV subscription for the first time this year was quite exciting for sports fans when it first broke in May. But there were no pricing details announced for the forthcoming ESPN on Disney+ tile, nor did the company enumerate which sports would air there.
The tile probably won’t feature everything available on linear ESPN, though it will likely come with more marquee events than ESPN+ (otherwise, why go to the trouble at all?). Max initially announced that it would charge $9.99 per month for the Bleacher Report Sports add-on when that extra launched last October, but has still not carried out plans to make customers pay more to watch. The B/R add-on carries live sports from TNT, TBS and truTV, but ESPN’s inventory vastly outpaces Turner Sports. How will Disney settle on a good price point for the ESPN add-on to Disney+?
Are NFL Teams About to Start Selling Their Streaming Rights Individually?
The jury is now in deliberations in an antitrust lawsuit brought by DIRECTV customers against the NFL and its out-of-market games package NFL Sunday Ticket. If the league loses, it could mean that NFL teams are allowed to sell their out-of-market rights as individuals, rather than a 32-team collective. Will the Dallas Cowboys stream on Netflix out-of-market in the near future, while the New York Giants are available on Prime Video? That wouldn’t be the ideal outcome for fans who are already confused about where to watch their favorite team.
What’s the Future of Paramount+?
The answer to this question is firmly tied to the fate of the streamer’s parent company Paramount Global, which is firmly undecided. The company has been exploring merger and acquisition opportunities for months, as its controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is ready, if not eager to sell. But its best hope for a deal fell through when talks with Skydance Media broke down this month, and earlier this week the troika of executives running the company announced they had hired bankers to help sell some of Paramount’s assets.
Will that include its streaming service Paramount+? Paramount is on the road to streaming profitability, but still loses millions of dollars from this segment each year, and the attendant intellectual property rights that could go along with it may be very valuable to the right buyer.
Who Will the NBA’s New Streaming Partners Be?
It seems very clear in my mind that the NBA would have preferred to announce its new broadcasting contracts by now. But negotiations have gotten exceedingly complex; the league has deal frameworks reportedly in place with Amazon and ESPN, and NBC is widely expected to land the third and final package of nationally-broadcast games. But WBD is not completely out of the running, having explored options from creating a fourth package of games to buy to trying to match Amazon or NBC’s bid for their respective future NBA game bundles, as is allowed by its current contract with the league. Everything seems to be on hold until WBD figures out how it wants to proceed, much to the chagrin of all other parties involved.
Will Prime Video Get Regional Sports Content?
Prime Video clearly wants to build its sports offerings, and took a step in that direction in January when it announced that it would invest in Diamond Sports Group — the company that owns and operates Bally Sports regional sports networks — if it emerged from bankruptcy protections as a going concern again. As part of the deal, Bally Sports+ would become available to purchase on the Prime Video Channels platform.
Diamond has oscillated back and forth between seemingly being poised to exit bankruptcy at any time and never seeing the light of day again since it entered the shelter of Chapter 11 protections last March. At the moment, things look fairly grim for the company, and if it doesn’t win approval for its bankruptcy reorganization plan from creditors its deal with Amazon could go up in smoke.
Which Smaller Streamer Will Be Bought First?
There are a number of streaming services on the market that seem destined to be absorbed by a giant of the industry at some point. Lionsgate is separating its movie business from the premium cable channel/on-demand streaming platform STARZ in order to make the two entities easier to sell, and AMC+ and its sibling streamers are also likely for sale at the right price. Which one of these dominoes will fall first, and who’s going to buy them? Netflix seems like a logical buyer for one or the other, but will it make a move any time soon?