In a world first, Sky will offer a package of Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix and Hayu in a single Sky TV subscription. It is part of a bundling strategy through which the pay-television provider will integrate online subscription services as part of a coherent platform proposition, much as it has done in the past with premium channels.
New customers will be able to get Sky, HBO Max1, Disney+, Hayu and Netflix together as part of Sky Ultimate TV from £24 a month.
Existing Sky TV subscribers will get bundles according to their package. The offers include subscribers to Sky Stream and Sky Glass, and Sky Q and Sky+ subscribers with eligible packages.
HBO Max Basic with Ads will be packaged at no extra cost with NOW Entertainment, fully integrated into the NOW platform.
Notably, all the online packages will be the basic tiers with adverts.
“This marks a new era for Sky and NOW. In a world-first, we’re bringing together Sky, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Hayu into a single Sky TV subscription.” said Sophia Ahmad, the chief consumer officer at Sky. “We’re proud to continue Sky’s legacy of innovation, making it easier than ever for people to enjoy the very best entertainment and best experience, all in one place.”
The deals come as Sky expands on its existing partnerships with Disney and Warner Bros Discovery.
Sky is effectively pursuing a super aggregation strategy, building on the channel bundling model that it adopted for pay television.
The Sky OS platform will be used to curate programming from Sky and other apps into one place, helping viewers get to what they want to watch, faster.
The Continue Watching feature will let viewers jump back into channels and apps, picking up where they left off or the next episode. Playlists will allow viewers to save favourites from apps and channels in one place. Everything integrates with Sky voice control, so customers can easily search across apps.
It is an example of how platform integration becomes something that households may be prepared to pay for. The convenience of the viewing experience is perhaps more important than getting everything on a single bill.
It also provides opportunities for the individual online subscription services to upsell to premium packages without adverts.
As usual from Sky, it is strategically smart. As Sky is owned by Comcast, it is a model we might expect to see deployed in the United States.