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Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney launched a cross-studio bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and Max on Thursday, bringing the services together at a discounted price as the entertainment giants look to scale their streaming businesses.
The companies said the bundle of the three services, which was first announced in May, is available to new and returning subscribers for $16.99 a month with ads, or $29.99 a month without ads — an up to 38% savings over the standalone pricing of each platform.
The lowest priced Max plan is currently offered at $9.99 a month with ads. Disney+ with Hulu is also available for $9.99 a month with ads.
The new bundle offers subscribers access to a wider array of programming, including the premium service HBO, and content from ABC, CNN, Discovery, the Food Network, FX, HGTV, Hulu, Pixar, and the Star Wars franchise. The collaborative effort also brings together two major comic-book rivals, Warner Bros.’ DC and Disney’s Marvel, in a single package.
The launch of the bundle comes as WBD, the parent company of CNN, and Disney, which owns both Disney+ and Hulu, look to woo and retain subscribers in a battle against larger streaming rivals Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
“We have found that when you bundle together with other content that more people in the family like — on a very basic level — the more often you watch product, the more people in the family that watch the product, the lower the churn,” WBD chief executive David Zaslav said this spring.
Smaller streaming platforms have struggled in recent years to retain subscribers in an increasingly crowded sector that also includes NBC’s Peacock, Paramount+, and Apple TV+. Earlier this week, Peacock parent company Comcast announced the service had shed 500,000 subscribers in its most recent quarter.
Others are also jumping into the already-crowded streaming fray. Earlier this month, Hallmark announced that it, too, will launch its own standalone streaming platform, Hallmark+, ahead of the holiday season.
But the emergence of the combined services at a discounted price resemble traditional cable television bundles. Disney already offers its own bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. In December, Verizon announced a new streaming subscription that paired Netflix and Max’s ad-supported tiers for $10 a month, a deal that, for an additional $10, includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN.
