With cable TV service in a state of cord-cutting freefall, two of the largest gamers within the area are leaning into a brand new technique to attempt to cease the bleeding.
Comcast and Constitution Communications are the 2 largest pay-TV corporations within the U.S., and the 2 largest broadband suppliers. However with TV subscribers falling quarter by quarter and yr by yr, within the final week each have launched merchandise to attempt to placate customers grappling with the sticker shock of complete cable packages, replete with sports activities channels and area of interest choices.
Constitution on Tuesday launched what it’s calling Spectrum TV Stream, which can present 90 streaming channels for $40 monthly. A&E, AMC, CNN, Discovery, Disney Channel, Fox Information, FX, Hallmark, and HGTV are among the many choices. The streaming providing will probably be obtainable to Spectrum web prospects.
The corporate additionally rolled out Spectrum Stream Latino, which can value $25 monthly and have 45 Spanish-language channels.
“We’re centered on creating extra versatile, lower-cost video choices for our prospects that embody a bundle of channels they need to watch,” mentioned Sharon Peters, govt VP and CMO for Constitution, in a press release. “With Spectrum TV Stream and Stream Latino, our prospects now have the choice to decide on high-value, internet-delivered streaming TV packages that embody the preferred information and leisure networks and Spanish-language programming.”
And Comcast introduced a brand new sequence of merchandise below model “NOW,” together with pay as you go web and cellular plans, in addition to NOW TV, a $20 per-month skinny streaming bundle with some 40 channels (together with Meals Community, A&E, AMC and Hallmark Channel), in addition to Peacock Premium.
Whereas Comcast initially launched its lite streaming vMVPD final yr, it now lives inside this bigger ecosystem of low-cost NOW plans.
“Customers have informed us they need low-cost, easy-to-use connectivity and leisure choices that ship the identical reliability and consistency of our main Xfinity providers,” mentioned Dave Watson, president and CEO of connectivity and platforms for Comcast. “With NOW, we’ve developed a brand new product assemble from the bottom as much as be easy and simple for anyone who desires Web, cellular or TV on their very own phrases with out sacrificing high quality. It rounds out our product providing to supply one thing for each shopper section of the market and performs to our strengths in superior community capabilities, WiFi and streaming.”
Each providers are solely obtainable to present web prospects of the 2 cable corporations.
The brand new skinny streaming packages come as cable TV continues to dwindle. In accordance with Leichtman Analysis, the highest cable TV corporations misplaced greater than 3.8 million subscribers in 2023, with Comcast alone dropping greater than two million, and Constitution over a million.
Digital MVPDs like YouTube TV and Hulu with Reside TV picked up a few of that slack, including practically 1.9 million subscribers.
With customers exhibiting a choice for streaming as in comparison with linear, the cable corporations — that are primarily within the broadband enterprise anyway — try to present them what they need.
However there’s nonetheless one piece lacking from the puzzle: Reside sports activities. To maintain the costs low, the thin bundles lack the sports activities channel that viewers know and love. And whereas Spectrum’s streaming bundle contains information channels, Comcast’s even lower-cost possibility doesn’t.
Whereas the Disney-Fox-Warner Bros. Discovery three way partnership streaming service doesn’t but have a launch date or worth, it’s anticipated to value greater than $40 by itself, making it an unlikely complement to the choices from Constitution and Comcast.
With YouTube TV and Hulu with Reside TV within the $75 monthly vary, the cable corporations are betting that they’ll entice reluctant cord-cutters or cord-nevers to present their skinny bundles a attempt at a extra accessible worth level.
On the very least it means that Comcast — which owns NBCUniversal — and Constitution, which has been searching for aggressive phrases with streaming advantages in its carriage offers, are prepared to do some experimentation to maintain the pay-TV enterprise going so long as potential.