Big media companies have been raising the prices of their streaming services this year to reduces the losses from those businesses, but even they can’t resist a Black Friday deal.
Walt Disney Co. is offering a year-long subscription to the ad-supported version of its Hulu streaming service for $1 a month in a promotion that ends Nov. 28. That’s half the price the company offered last year.
But wait, there’s more.
The company is also letting new customers include the Disney+ streaming service with commercials for an additional $2, a bundle that normally costs $10 a month, or $16 if you purchased the two services individually. You can even add the competing Starz streaming service, operated by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., in a six-month deal for $1 a month.
Black Friday promotions have become a fixture of the streaming TV era. They offer a quick way to pick up viewers without lowering posted prices. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., Comcast Corp. and Paramount Global have all raised their prices this year.
Last November, streamers added 1.4 million new customers, just through Amazon.com Inc.’s channels store, according to data from the research firm Antenna. Such offers allow services to “bring in new customers at scale,” according to Alison Hoffman, president of domestic networks at Starz.
While subscriber growth for the industry slowed in the first half of this year, sign-ups rebounded a bit in the third quarter, according to Wells Fargo Securities. The 10 largest streaming TV providers added 23 million customers, a 4% bump from the second quarter, to 605.3 million in total. Still, that’s less than the increases from a few years ago.
“After big growth during the pandemic, the streaming stack has largely plateaued,” said Jennifer Kent, a vice president at industry researcher Parks Associates. “The average streaming household has 5.8 subscription streaming services, a rate that has barely moved in the past two years.”
This year’s deals especially emphasize newer plans that have advertising. More than half of the new subscribers to Disney+ in October chose the option that has commercials, according to Antenna research. That number was 22% for Warner Bros.’ Max.
Max is offering new and returning subscribers its ad-supported plan for $3 a month for six months, down from $10 normally. The company’s streaming business reported a surprise profit last quarter, though it lost customers.
Comcast’s Peacock is available for $2 a month or $20 for a full year in a deal that expires on Nov. 27.
The offers can also introduce customers to new features. Disney, for example, plans to integrate Disney+ and Hulu into one app. The beta version is set to release next month with a formal rollout in March, meaning customers who sign up for the promotions will be exposed to the new app.
Paramount+ is offering its service with ads at $2 a month in a promotion that ends Dec. 3. For $4 shoppers can choose the ad-free version and Showtime, the company’s premium cable TV programming. Paramount began integrating the two services in June.
Fox Nation will slash its monthly fee to $2.50 when you choose an annual plan, a promotion tied to the 250th birthday of the US and a new historical series hosted by Rob Lowe.
Streaming leader Netflix Inc. is noticeably absent from the Black Friday blitz. Instead it’s offering discounts on merchandise based on Netflix original series, like the Stranger Things version of Monopoly for $10.
The company’s ad-supported tier, which launched November of last year, reported 15 million subscribers in a blog post early this month.
(Updates with data on ad-supported plans in ninth paragraph.)
