Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. To read the last entry, check out The Disney and Warner Bros Streaming Partnership Spells Trouble For Curation on Disney Plus, Hulu and Max. (Yeah, it’s a long headline. It’s a long problem!)
Another week, another streaming bundle. StreamSaver, just announced by Comcast, will include Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock in one package. This news is notably different than last week’s Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announcement though, and not just because it involves different companies with separate streamers. Here’s a quick and easy breakdown, from one tired consumer to another, of what makes it unique and who’s really benefiting. I’ll do my best to make fun of the name “StreamSaver” as little as possible, but know that I am weak.
StreamSaver Isn’t Available to Everyone
Unlike the currently unnamed Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle, StreamSaver isn’t available to all subscribers. According to Variety, the new bundle will only be available to Comcast/Xfinity customers. Now, performance greatly depends on your area, but there is no price tag they could put on a streaming bundle that would bring me back as a Comcast subscriber after all the outages I’ve had. (Not that any cable provider is particularly great.) You are also eligible to subscribe to StreamSaver if you use Comcast/Xfinity as an ISP.
Like the press release for the Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle, the word “value” was thrown around a lot for the soon-to-launch StreamSaver, with Comcast chief Brian Roberts noting that the bundle will “come at a vastly reduced price to anything in the market today.” Of course, take that with a grain of salt.
We Love a Good Discount, But…
Listen, I think we’ve all gotten to the point where we’re pretty cynical when it comes to any major corporation telling us they’re saving us money. Corporate profits are at an all-time high, while entertainment executives continue to rake in the cash even as they trip over themselves trying to find a way to make streaming profitable. (Spoiler: fix your salaries and your budgets, m’dudes.)
Credit where it’s due: Forbes does note that Xfinity offers competitive pricing. Still, whenever a corporation talks about unprecedented value or savings in their marketing, it usually means that they’re just charging you what the product is worth vs. the typically inflated pricing. With streaming prices continuing to rise without the products improving in any real way, consumers are speaking out. In fact, more than a third of subscribers say the prices they’re paying for their services aren’t worth it.
Who Will StreamSaver Benefit Most?
This is going to be an annoying answer, given the fact that I just spent an entire section dogging on corporate profits, executive pay and the perception of a good deal. But, regardless of what the “super savings” on the bundle end up being, Apple TV+ is the real winner here.
After last week’s column, I was asked in the comments what I thought the best streaming service was. Keeping in mind the same caveat that I put in my response then (it depends on what you personally value most in a streamer, whether it be content quantity, content quality, user experience (UX), speeds, etc.), my answer is easily Apple TV+. Its quality to quantity ratio is unmatched, I don’t hate its UI, everything loads the way it’s supposed to with limited buffering, and finding my favorite shows is a breeze because of the hyper-curated content. The thing is, not a lot of folks prioritize Apple TV+ for the exact reason I enjoy it so much: Its content library is quite limited.
But keeping their offerings limited is a feature, not a bug. Apple isn’t focused on frequent acquisitions or churning shows in order to create a content mill. They have an actively different strategy from the other major streamers because they, like Prime Video, don’t have the same goals as a Netflix, Disney+, or Max-like platform. Instead of relying on subscriber growth, Apple (and Prime Video) act as “value add” services, meaning that their streaming services are solely there to make existing subscribers or customers happy. In short: Apple is focused on quality over quantity because they are not beholden to the same subscriber concerns as their competitors. Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Apple is hyper-focused on its image. They’re not going to turn to messy reality content anytime soon.
So why’s Apple the real winner, despite having their name attached to something called StreamSaver? (I tried, y’all. I really did.) Exposure.
Sounds stupid, given that Apple is the second-largest company in the world, that they should want exposure. But your competitors having far more to watch than you can hobble a streamer when it comes to getting user attention. Now, folks who need Netflix (or Peacock, I guess) for one reason or the other also get Apple TV+ tacked on to their bundle.
So Will StreamSaver Be Worth It?
The answer here is going to depend on several factors — one of which is a major unknown. If you already have Xfinity for your cable or internet and subscribe to Netflix, Peacock and Apple TV+, StreamSaver will be a no-brainer for you. No matter what the discount is, you can be assured that it’s lower than what you’re currently paying as a subscriber.
Every other scenario has the price question mark attached to it. Just how steep is this discount going to be? If it’s the current cost of, say, Netflix on its own, folks looking to expand their streaming horizons will probably find some value there. But beyond that, it’s going to come down to a case-by-case basis.
Though, one thing I’ll say for those who don’t have Xfinity for cable or internet, you should do a price check in your area to see if you can save by swapping providers! Often, cable and internet provider discounts only apply for a year or two. (And my shoddy experience with Xfinity is not universal.) So, if you’ve been with your current provider for a while, you may be able to save twice by lowering your cable and internet bill as well as dropping the price on your streaming services as well with this bundle.
