Pay TV reinvented: The strategic impact of free SVOD bundles

Traditional US pay TV providers, including Charter Communications Inc. and DirecTV LLC have begun offering free access to streaming subscription video (SVOD) services to some of their pay TV customers in a bid to reduce churn and alleviate some of the pain of cord cutting. These bundled packages have the potential to help traditional multichannel TV providers slow the rate of subscriber declines while SVOD service operators benefit from wider distribution and reduced churn rates.

➤ Charter and Disney pioneered this bundled package model with their September 2023 carriage agreement that ultimately resulted in access to the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN streaming services being bundled for free into most Charter Spectrum TV plans. Subsequent carriage negotiations between Charter and Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and other network owners would see similar deals struck for the inclusion of additional streaming services.

➤ Charter has been the most active in striking these deals, with most Charter Spectrum TV customers now getting free access to Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited, HBO Max, FOX One, Peacock, Paramount+, AMC+ and ViX. DIRECTV includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited with some of its TV plans and YouTube TV subscribers will get free access to ESPN Unlimited beginning in 2026, with the option to also include Disney+ and Hulu as part of some YouTube TV packages.

➤ S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan survey data highlights the impact of these deals, most notably with elevated usage among Charter Spectrum TV subscribers for most of the complimentary SVOD services bundled into subscriptions. DIRECTV users were also more likely to report using Disney’s streaming services, with usage for ESPN+ notably elevated.

Kagan’s MediaCensus survey of 13,500 US online adults fielded in the third quarter of 2025 revealed higher usage for Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ among Charter and DIRECTV subscribers versus most traditional multichannel TV peers. Respondents who said they had Charter Spectrum TV service were also the most likely to use Paramount+, HBO Max and AMC+.

Please note that at the time the survey was fielded, ESPN+ was Disney’s primary sports streaming service prior to the subsequent launch of ESPN Unlimited and the rebranding of ESPN+ to ESPN Select. The FOX One service was also not available on the market at the time of the survey. Survey respondents were asked about their service usage, but were not directly asked if they were accessing an SVOD service through a specific complimentary bundle. Pay TV subscribers represent traditional pay TV package subscribers and do not include respondents who reported using virtual services such as Xfinity NOW TV or DIRECTV’s virtual streaming plan.

Charter began including Disney+ with its pay TV service in January 2024, followed later that year by the addition of other streaming services like Paramount+, HBO Max and Spanish-language Vix Premium. In September 2024, Charter and AMC Networks reached a multi-year renewal agreement for AMC+ which was implemented into Charter’s packages in March 2025. In the first quarter of 2025, Charter secured an agreement with NBCUniversal to offer Peacock Premium, reinforcing its approach of bundling streaming services with traditional pay TV subscriptions. By the end of 2025, Charter had expanded its offerings to include additional Disney streaming services.

DIRECTV reached a new carriage agreement with Disney in September 2024 and launched free access to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN streaming services in August 2025 for select DIRECTV packages. This rollout coincided with Charter Spectrum’s expanded inclusion of Hulu, ESPN Unlimited, and Fox One. In the summer of 2025, DIRECTV also began to offer an ad-supported version of Vix Premium within genre-specific plans.

Comcast Corp. ended its free access to Peacock Premium for all customers in June 2023, transitioning to a more selective model that limits free access to the company-owned service to certain subscribers.

Charter Spectrum offers the largest lineup of free bundled SVOD services, while DIRECTV subscribers can also access some free services within its Signature packages and genre plans. For Comcast subscribers, higher-tier packages offer access to Peacock Premium.

Data from Kagan’s third quarter 2024 and third quarter 2025 MediaCensus surveys showed adoption rates climbing among Charter Spectrum TV subscribers for bundled SVOD services versus flat to very small growth for other SVOD services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Apple TV. HBO Max and Paramount+ saw the biggest uptick in usage, rising 11 percentage points and 9 percentage points, respectively.

As far as additional SVOD services that could be bundled into TV packages moving forward, usage was more limited for streaming offerings such as Apple TV, Discovery+, Starz OTT and BET+. Practical considerations such as implementation and customer support costs could factor into decisions as to which bundle partnerships to pursue. Services that are more lightly used will likely be less effective at reducing churn compared to more popular streaming offerings that are being bundled for free into pay TV packages.

Traditional pay TV platforms remain popular among older audiences overall. According to Kagan’s third quarter 2025 MediaCensus survey, respondents aged 50+ accounted for more than 55% of users across major pay TV operators.

DISH Network Corp. has yet to include free streaming services beyond short trial periods. Its subscriber base skews older, with survey data showing that 65% of its users are aged 50 and up. This demographic trend corresponds with lower overall engagement with streaming, as DISH households report the lowest average number of streaming services used among the operators represented. This suggests a continued preference for traditional viewing among DISH subscribers.

In contrast, Charter’s efforts to mitigate churn through the inclusion of free SVOD services show signs of increased user engagement, with the survey data supporting higher average usage of streaming services both free and paid relative to its peers. MediaCensus survey data aligns with the company’s recent fourth quarter and full year 2025 report, noting its first increase in video subscribers since 2020 during the fourth quarter.

Data presented in this article is from the MediaCensus survey conducted in the third quarter of 2025. This sample included 13,500 US internet adults matched by age and gender to the US Census. The survey results have a margin of error of +/-0.98 ppts at the 95% confidence level. Survey data should only be used to identify general market characteristics and directional trends. 

Consumer Insights is a regular feature from S&P Market Intelligence Kagan.