Cover story
Preoccupied
Cover story
Bundles of joy
The world was unbundled by the arrival of global streamers and cord cutting . With consolidation looming in the SVoD sector , and ongoing frustration with content discovery , is it time for the operator-aggregated bundle to make a return ? Colin Mann investigates .
“ with D2C , the TV industry has failed to take the lead on effective aggregation , allowing telcos to step in to offer operator bundles that aggregate rival streaming services ,” asserts Tony Gunnarsson , principal analyst , TV , video and advertising , Omdia . “ Across many mature markets , a wide range of operatoraggregated streaming bundles are now firmly in place , offering customers an alternative to direct standalone D2C access to online entertainment . For example : In the US , Comcast have distribution deals in place with 21 different streaming services including all the major services Amazon , Netflix , Disney +, HBO Max and Paramount +, which are sold to Comcast customers in packages combined with TV and broadband services . In Spain , Telefónica España bundles Netflix , Disney +, Amazon Prime Video and others , with its Movistar + TV platform , sold together in a bundle with TV , fixed broadband and mobile services . According to Omdia , there are nearly 1,900 operator partnerships with streamers worldwide as of Q2 2024 .”
“ Telco aggregation of third-party streaming is now at an advanced stage , and Omdia ’ s latest analysis of the sector indicates that by the end of 2024 21 per cent of all SVoD subscriptions ( 365 million ) globally will come from bundles ; by 2029 , bundling will grow to 24 per cent ( 540 million ).”
“ What our latest analysis has found , however , is that bundling is now unlikely to ever replace
“ Preoccupied with D2C , the TV industry has failed to take the lead on effective aggregation .” - Tony Gunnarsson , Omdia . standalone D2C ; at best , telco bundles will continue to play a supportive role in providing a stable base for additional subscribers , particularly when it comes to attracting new users to new services ,” he suggests . “ However , with streaming being a relatively mature market already , most customers remain D2C customers : operator bundles are not designed to convert existing customers . In other words , TV and Video will still need to solve a key challenge for the future : How to give customers access to all the major services with all the content they need in a single package at a single price ?” SATURATION . “ With saturation rates now starting to take hold across many developed markets , as seen in the Futuresource Living with Digital bi-annual study , different countries are now starting to see a decrease in the average number of services households are either paying for or have access to ,” notes James Duvall , principal analyst , head of entertainment at Futuresource Consulting . “ As the industry moves forward , the outlook for sustaining a healthy and profitable subscription service will be led by countryspecific dynamics . This will require global services ( i . e ., Netflix , Disney +, Prime etc ) and pay-TV operators to make operational and legislative decisions based on the local market set-up .”
“ For example , how a service provider tackles a market like France , where the
Audiovisual Media Services ( AVMS ) Directive has been implemented into local
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