Top streaming services are teaming up with grocery giants and on-demand delivery platforms to cook up a new kind of bundle for subscribers.

The Big Picture: Streamers are plagued by ever-rising rates of churn — people subscribing and unsubscribing month to month — so Hollywood’s latest strategy is mixing what’s considered an expendable expense, entertainment, with a non-expandable one, needing to eat.

Behind The Scenes: Everyone but Netflix is hoping that hunger pains lead to subscriber gains.

  • Disney struck a deal with Kroger to add any of its ad-supported services to a Kroger Boost membership for free.

  • Warner Bros. Discovery partnered with DoorDash to give DashPass members free access to the ad-tier of Max.

  • NBCUniversal did the same thing with its Peacock platform with Instacart+ subscribers.

  • And Paramount bundled Paramount+ with Walmart+ to get as many people as possible watching the Taylor Sheridan universe of shows.

Final Order: Mixing food subscriptions with streaming subscriptions isn’t necessarily a novel idea — it’s the whole premise behind Amazon Prime, which makes Prime Video a cherry on top of free shipping and discounts to Whole Foods. By getting the munchies, streamers may keep customers, find new ones, and share data for ad-targeting. And as streamers roll out the ability to purchase things directly from ads, prepare for some serious food-brand sponsorship deals to get you hungry while watching your favorite show.

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