MyBundle takes new tangent on broadband/video streaming combos

MyBundle is touting a new way for broadband service providers to keep their hand in the video game by distributing streaming service "credits" linked to speed upgrades and other types of customizable broadband offers and bundles.

The new Streaming Choice program is a rebranded and retooled version of MyBundle's original Streaming Rewards program that enables dozens of the company's Internet service provider (ISP) partners to package their own home broadband offering with various premium streaming services. The new program also builds on an underlying platform marketplace from MyBundle that helps those partners provide targeted streaming service recommendations to their own broadband customers based on interests and needs.

Figure 1: (Source: Michael Zech/Alamy Stock Photo)

Streaming Choice, which is built into the marketplace, is effectively a virtual credit card platform that allows MyBundle's broadband partners to give away streaming services or provide credits that can be used toward streaming subscriptions.

Building ARPU, improving churn

"For the broadband provider, it's a way to acquire new customers, it's a way to drive ARPU [average revenue per user], and we think also it's a way to reduce churn," said Jason Cohen, MyBundle's CEO.

MyBundle is adding this new option as its base of broadband partners continues to expand. The company now works with about 160 broadband providers serving a combined 10 million US households. Those numbers are poised to rise as MyBundle secures more business via its recently signed agreement with the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC), an organization that forges content and tech deals on behalf of its membership of 700-plus small and midsized US cable operators and telcos.

Some of MyBundle's customers have already begun to put Streaming Rewards into action.

Among them, Wisconsin-based operator Norvado is offering $20 in streaming credits to customers through a "PickME Plan."

Figure 2: Norvado is among the US broadband operators putting MyBundle's Streaming Choice program to work.
(Source: Screencap from Norvado TV bundling web page, April 4, 2023)

"MyBundle helped Norvado create a hybrid television offering, combining network television programming and streaming credits to be used with 180+ streaming providers," Chad Mix, Norvado's marketing director, said in a statement. "Our customers are loving the savings and choice. They are essentially as close to a la carte TV as you can get."

In another example, Home Telecom is using MyBundle's Streaming Rewards program to offer six months of Disney+, ESPN+, Paramount+ or Peacock to customers who upgrade to 1-Gig speeds.

Cohen said broadband operators can apply Streaming Choice in other ways. For example, they have the ability to use Streaming Choice as a one-time gift card – something in the range of $100 to $200 – that can be applied toward streaming services.

"We're offering, we think, a better version of a gift card," Cohen said. "The economics are better for the broadband provider than a traditional gift card."

But how do operators make money?

Cohen said the easiest pitch is to offer Streaming Choice in the upgrade scenario, with the cost of the credits covered by the increase in ARPU provided via the faster and higher-priced speed tiers.

Tightening ties to streaming services

Cohen said MyBundle is also exploring deeper integrations with streaming services that enable customers with Streaming Choice credits to sign up for a streaming service account directly through the MyBundle platform. The company has completed this type of integration with Sling TV, and similar integrations with other streaming services are in the works, he said.

"We think that that's where this takes Streaming Choice to a whole other level, where it's not just a way for broadband and streaming to be combined or a way for consumers to bundle their streaming services," Cohen explained.

He added that the push for deeper integration is similar to the approach Verizon is taking with its "+play" aggregation platform and that Comcast and Charter Communications are taking with their new Xumo national streaming joint venture.

Bigger picture, Cohen said these aggregation models are forming as consumers gravitate toward streaming services but are in need of guidance on which services best suit their needs as they sift through the options.

"There's still a massive wedge between what this could and should look like and the current user experience," he said.

MyBundle is also rebranding and revising Streaming Choice as some operators, particularly smaller ones, drop their own pay-TV platform or are considering doing so as their primary focus turns to home broadband. While some of those operators are upgrading to new IP-based streaming platforms, others are looking to cede all video to third-party streaming services rather than keeping their legacy platforms going while also dealing with the headaches of surging programming costs.

Anecdotally, conversations with operators that are exploring a shut-down of their legacy pay-TV platforms are accelerating, Cohen said.

"The pace at which that is happening seems and feels like it's increasing there," he said.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading