It's been a year of trials and tribulations for streaming services, most of which continue to struggle against increasingly strong headwinds. Competition is murderous and the price war is raging. Perhaps it's a good idea to join forces, something that Apple and Paramount are now rumoured to be hoping to do.
This is according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, which describes how increased prices have led to a migration of subscribers from the two platforms, which Apple and Paramount now hope to stem by offering their two services in one package.
The discussions between Apple and Paramount come as most entertainment giants are dealing with competitive pressures. They have been raising prices sharply in recent months in an effort to bring their streaming businesses to profitability, but have in turn faced rising levels of customer defections.
Bundling their services is a tactic that Netflix and HBO are already testing in the domestic market via Verizon, and Warner has also been reported to be interested in a similar solution. As the company's CEO Davis Zaslav recently told us openly.
In short, streaming is increasingly returning to something like the cable TV packages of the 80s and 90s, and how this whole streaming war will end. Well, that remains to be seen, of course.
How do you see the streaming market as it is today, does it make sense to bundle several different services together?