DirecTV continues to move fast in building out its new skinny-bundle strategy, announcing a range of key additions to its two-month-old genre-based pay TV packages.
Among the moves, Warner Bros. Discovery’s $9.99-a-month Max Basic with Ads will be added at no additional cost for consumers to the MyEntertainment Genre Pack, which already includes more than 40 linear entertainment-themed channels, as well as well as ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu (a $20.98-a-month value as a standalone duo direct from Disney). The whole MyEntertainment package will remain priced at $34.99 a month.
Coinciding with Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, DirecTV is further building out the just-announced $19.99-a-month MyHome Team add-on package of regional sports networks (RSNs) tied to its MySports genre bundle. Joining the MyHome Team local package will be Spectrum SportsNet LA, home of the defending World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as MLB owned and operated channels tied to the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres. (Most of those MLB teams are former Bally Sports channel partners who lost their affiliation amid the RSN group’s arduous bankruptcy process over 2023 and ’24.)
With the additions, DirecTV’s local sports add-on bundle has 18 of MLB’s 30 franchises in its purview. Notably, through its deal with Charter Communications, DirecTV was also able to tack onto MyHome Team Spectrum SportsNet, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers. The add-on package now has 16 NBA teams in its fold. (The MyHome Team package was just announced in mid-March.)
Meanwhile, starting next week, the pay TV operator will add C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2 to the $39.99-a-month MyNews bundle. Hubbard Media Group's cultural channel Ovation will also be added to MyEntertainment.
DirecTV announced its three genre-themed bundles back in January, after program suppliers Disney, WBD and Fox tried to cut out the pay-TV middlemen with launch sports-themed bundle Venu Sports. They scuttled that effort following a lawsuit settlement and Disney deal with Fubo, which had previously secured a preliminary injunction from a federal judge overseeing the case on the grounds that allegations of antitrust law violations likely had legs. Before settling the antitrust suit brought on by Fubo, the case was scheduled to go to a court hearing.
But DirecTV ended up, in the aftermath, with more flexible distribution rights, which it has used to create an innovative new packaging strategy.
Also amid the ongoing wave of bundling innovation occurring in pay TV, Charter on Thursday announced that NBCUniversal’s $7.99-a-month Peacock Premium has been added to the cable operator’s Spectrum Select bundle at no extra cost to customers.
Charter has negotiated deals with Disney, WBD, Paramount, NBCUniversal and other program suppliers to include their subscription streaming services in the cable operator’s most popular video tier at no additional consumer cost. The ad-supported Peacock is only the latest integration.
“The integration of Peacock advances our goal of offering customers high-value video products that include the best of linear and streaming television,” said Tom Montemagno, executive VP of programming acquisition for Spectrum. “Peacock’s inclusion means customers in our most popular packages now enjoy free access to the industry’s major streaming services with their Spectrum TV plan, providing up to approximately $80 per month of retail value at no extra cost. We appreciate NBCUniversal’s willingness to help build a healthier video ecosystem for viewers.”
Article updated to correct an earlier version that inaccurately stated Hubbard Media Group as the owner of C-Span. C-Span is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress and funded by the United States federal government to promote and help support public broadcasting..