The Wall Street Journal has reported on the possibility of a merger between Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus, as part of a bid to take the video streaming crown away from Netflix. The report suggests that the two services could be fused into one, cheaper service that will offer much more content and perhaps lure subscribers away from the industry’s leading streaming platform.
According to the report, the two companies have discussed “bundling their streaming services at a discount” and offer their combined libraries at a price that would undercut Netflix. Of course, it’s helpful that Netflix recently chose to raise its prices globally.
At present, Apple TV Plus costs £8.99 per month, while Paramount is priced at £6.99.
The talks are surprising, but not entirely unexpected considering that Apple already provides access to some rival services, such as Disney+, through its mobile devices.
Other streaming platforms have also entered into collaborations with their peers. For instance, Disney offers users a Disney Bundle subscription that provides access to Disney+ as well as Hulu and ESPN Plus. Currently, that’s only offered to U.S. customers.
The alleged talks are intriguing though, as the combination of Apple’s and Paramount’s content libraries would prove an enticing offer at a time when many streaming services are raising their asking prices. Netflix is still the world’s most popular such platform with 232.5 million subscribers worldwide, but it would face a bigger challenge in retaining that crown if the merger goes ahead, as Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus both have tons of quality content exclusive to their platforms. However, Netflix would probably still have the advantage in terms of overall quantity, as its massive catalogue of content far exceeds anything its rivals can offer.
If Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus were too merge, the lower quantity would not be such a problem, as there is a limit to the amount of things any single viewer can watch. As long as they have enough interesting content to cater to everyone’s tastes, they can definitely compete with Netflix, especially if the price of the combined offering is cheaper than the cheapest, £7.99 per month subscription offered by the number one streamer.
Apple TV Plus has been steadily growing its subscriber base, albeit somewhat slowly, while Paramount Plus now claims more than 60 million customers thanks to the addition of hit shows such as South Park, Yellowstone and Frasier.
The Journal says that talks between Apple and Paramount are still in the very early stages, so it would likely be some time before any concrete deal emerges.