Comcast's Bargain Bin Basement Bundle
Todd Spangler
It's not yet entirely a game of musical chairs with the music stopping, but it's not not that completely either:
Get ready for the next cable-like streaming bundle: Comcast later this month will launch a three-way bundle — with Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ — offered at a deep discount, Comcast chief Brian Roberts said.
Dubbed StreamSaver, the bundle will be available to all Comcast broadband and TV customers, Roberts said, speaking Tuesday at MoffettNathanson’s 2024 Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York.
The key bit in here is "available to all Comcast broadband and TV customers" – in other words, this isn't a true off-the-shelf offering that anyone will be able to buy. (At least not yet.) This is only for Comcast's existing customers. In other words, it's a tactic to bring in (and keep) more subscribers for Comcast, not some new bundle that everyone is going to buy...
...but wait. I'm sorry. This is all interesting but – StreamSaver? STREAMSAVER?! What the fuck? Is this being sold on QVC? At the local supermarket? StreamSaver!! There are bad brands and then there's StreamSaver. This makes Qwikster sound like a work of branding art. And Quibi for that matter. I take back everything bad I've ever said about HBO Now/Go/Plus/Minus/Max. And Microsoft too. Vudu Fandango at Home belongs in the Louvre.
I simply cannot for one second believe that Apple signed off on this name. I'd sooner expect them to send out a weekly coupon book. Either they just learned of the name Comcast chose alongside the rest of us, or that's how dire things are with Apple TV+ right now. A service which, to be clear, has some great content. But if the numbers are to be believed, no one seems to be watching that great content relative to their peers. Because no one seems to know about said content.1 But that's just marketing. That's what Apple is the best in the world at. They have the tools to fix this. They don't have to stream save!2
Also not having to stream save? Netflix! As shocked as I am about Apple agreeing to this, I'm even more surprised by Netflix. Because they're the powerhouse here. If anyone is going to offer a bundle, they should be the ones doing the dictating, not Comcast. But I guess that speaks to the power of the pipes.
Kudos to Brian Roberts for pulling these two brands into this – it's great marketing, if nothing else. Because again, unless you happen to have Comcast, you won't be buying this because you won't be able to. In that regard, it's more similar to the deals that cellular wireless companies offer for such services. Which is to say, Comcast is clearly paying Netflix and Apple to do this at whatever the discount ends up being. Still!
StreamSaver. Was BargainBinBasementBingeBundle taken?
1 Well, except for Ted Lasso. Which seems to have broken through. Which is exactly why there's no way it's actually over.
2 What's next, a deal with Walmart to sell cheap MacBooks? Cheap iPhones?!