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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (60362)	10/11/2024 3:10:36 AM
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How Verizon Is Bundling Streaming Services to Win Customers By Stevie Rosignol-Cortez Follow Published: Oct. 11, 2024 at 1:00?a.m. ET Share Resize Reprints Listen (4 min) Referenced Symbols VZ -1.11% Verizon's CEO on How Phones and Networks Work So Differently Now You may also like Verizon's CEO on How Phones and Networks Work So Differently NowPlay video: Verizon's CEO on How Phones and Networks Work So Differently Now CEO Hans Vestberg explained how network and phone usage has shifted dramatically, emphasizing the role of streaming. In the interview, he also discussed 5G and Verizon’s streaming bundle options. This interview was recorded on September 12, 2024. Though your favorite television shows may not have changed over the years, the way you watch them probably has. One of the initial appeals of video streaming services was that they could provide a cost-effective alternative to cable TV, while delivering a more personalized and flexible experience—allowing consumers to unbundle from the traditional cable offering and still keep up with their favorite content. This allure appeared successful: many people ditched cable altogether in favor of Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services. But rising subscription prices, crackdowns on password sharing, and an ever-growing number of services have prompted consumer interest in rebundling, or combining multiple services to try to recapture the economical promise of streaming. Verizon VZ -1.11% is one company that has seen the interest in reorganizing streaming subscriptions and has taken action to harness it. Verizon’s stock is up about 15% so far this year, too. In an interview with Barron’s, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said the company is actually leading rebundling in the market. “We saw early on that all the streaming services coming out [are] getting pretty complicated because you have a lot of them,” Vestberg said. “What we tried to do was to see if we can offer [streaming bundles] on top of our other offerings.” In addition to its traditional phone and data plans, Verizon offers streaming packages, with the 10 largest streaming services available at discounted rates through its perks program. Verizon says on its website that customers who pick certain monthly plans can also pay $10 per month for a Netflix and Max bundle that includes access both to platforms with advertisements, saving $6.98 per month. There’s also a $10 per month Disney bundle for eligible customers that includes ad-free access to Disney+, with ads on Hulu and ESPN+, which can save you $8.99 monthly. Vestberg says the ability to combine certain services, like Netflix and Max, for example, is exclusive to Verizon. “We can combine offers that no one else can…We started with this five or six years ago, and now we’ve developed a very important creative service,” Vestberg said. Newsletter Sign-up The Barron's Daily A morning briefing on what you need to know in the day ahead, including exclusive commentary from Barron's and MarketWatch writers. Preview Subscribe Verizon’s website, which touts its customizable myPlan wireless program, emphasizes that customers are able to pay for the services and add-ons they want. The language echoes the sentiment that once made streaming services seem attractive in the first place. “It’s a choice for our customers, they take what wireless plan they want to have, and then they take what streaming perk they want to have. They save money with us on it, it’s a value to our customers,” Vestberg said. Bundling can save Verizon customers money, but Vestberg argues that it’s valuable to the streaming companies, too. “We take the cost of acquisition of the customers away from the streaming guys and bundle that into our services,” he said. At a time when subscription cancellations are rising, that relief is probably welcome to streaming companies. Americans still pay for about three streaming services a month on average, according to a recent Forbes survey—but companies and consumers are clearly looking toward bundling as an important part of the changing media landscape. Write to Stevie Rosignol-Cortez at stevie.rosignol-cortez@dowjones.com