Today, during Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings call CEO David Zaslav talked about the Spectrum and Disney deal that will force every cable TV subscriber to pay for Disney+ as a great success. He also suggested Warner Bros. Discovery also wants a similar deal that will result in every cable TV subscriber to pay for Max, helping them grow.
Warner Bros. Discovery said that bundling streaming services could be beneficial for live TV services like cable TV. It will also help them get more revenue as every cable TV subscriber will be paying for Max.
The question is, who will pay to cover the costs of bundling these services into cable TV? A hypothetical bundle that includes the ad tiers for Max ($9.99), Disney+ ($7.99), Peacock ($5.99) and Paramount+ ($5.99) would cost around $30. Even if a cable provider were to get a wholesale discount, that would still represent a material increase to their programming costs. Even half that amount would mean another $15 a month per subscriber. That could go even higher if you include other services like ESPN+. Sadly for customers, cable TV companies have a history of passing these costs to its customers.
This comes as Paramount also announced they have struck a deal with multiple cable TV companies to offer Paramount+ without dropping any channels.
The good news for cord cutters is if you don’t pay for a cable TV service from companies like Spectrum, none of this will impact you. You will still be able to get Disney+, Peacock, and more as stand-alone services. The bad news for cable TV customers is your bill may soon be going up as you are forced to pay for streaming services ontop of your cable TV subscription.