Why Streaming Services Are Returning to Bundles | WSJ Tech News Briefing

After years of cutting the cable-TV cord, streaming customers are increasingly being offered something familiar: a bundle of programming.

WSJ deputy media editor Jessica Toonkel joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss why streaming services are returning to bundles, what they offer to customers and why the “Great Rebundling” is different from your last cable-TV package.

Photo: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

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#Streaming #TV #WSJ

[amirmoradi]

Pirating was on a downward trend as Netflix became more popular. Soon because of all the different streaming services and bundles pirating is going to be back on the rise

[shirokuma]

These companies need to deal with opening up their content to the international audience rather than blocking programming in regions. As a permanent resident of Japan, there are plenty of shows we cannot see unless we have a VPN (which never worked for me).

[scottshapiro]

It finally came full circle. Streaming was good because everything was in one place. But now with so many streaming services, how is it different than cable?

Sure, each service is individually cheaper, but if you want to Ted Lasso, The Boys, Bridgerton, The Mandalorian, and The Handmaid's Tale you need 5 separate streaming services. Just think of streaming services as channels and it's cable, for the same price

In addition, sure cable has a lot of channels you don't watch, but honestly, do you watch the entire Netflix catalog? Or do you watch a few shows?

At this point, the only difference between streaming and cable is with streaming, it's still a bit more on demand watching. But even now, most cable companies have a decent on demand selection..

[damarissilas]

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[bngr_bngr]

I got my DVD’s as back up. Plus a wired antenna.

[jasourwnjl]

Circa 2006 when you had access to the massive library on Netflix DVD was where it was at. Used to get five or six discs a week of just about anything plus some had great commentary tracks.

[aeidengtfo]

They aren't bundles when theyre "bundles" own by same company.

[JulioTorresXVI]

torrent does it great all the time. There are a handful of 4K videos available. All we need is good internet.

[MrJustCallMeJames]

This is what happens when copyright laws allow these companies to compete on anti customer exclusivity instead of value/user experience.

[philip]

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[dltraining]

They will be like cable in time. We dumped cable and have 4. No paying for any channels we don’t watch. The streaming services content is better than stuff in movie theaters too.

[ManOfSteel]

my all time fav service is bittorrent...

[jensenraylight]

Thanks disney for rocking the boat and make streaming worse for everyone

[TheMrFishnDucks]

They're costing way too much and you need several, making it un-affordable.

[georgenaidoo]

The bundles don't exist in all regions, in my country it's expensive and getting 4k content is a pain.its available just expensive.

[imjody]

Now that you mention it, I'm quite surprised that Netflix hasn't ever introduced a free version of Netflix that had all of the same movies and shows, but with like 5-10 ads per episode, and like 30 ads per movie, 5 ads at a time, split throughout the show/movie. This would probably be a HUGE hit, and introduce a massive income to the company!

[SimplyJack]

And holding shows to weekly release like network tv, to keep you subscribed.

[alimfuzzy]

Foxtel (Australia paid cable) used to say no ads ever, then it was one at the end of an episode... now it is more than 50% ads... that's what these ad streaming services will become.

[johnnykidblue]

Anybody else remember Hulu streaming coming before Netflix?

[BibhatsuKuiri]

to watch a single Tv series, i cant compromise my credit card for monthly payment.
in that case, only option i have is to search torrent or pirated websites and just download and watch.

in india, if someone wants to buy all popular streaming services it will cross there monthly salary by 2 times. not feasible at all. All we want is a unified package, so that we can pay to a single service and watch.