Black Friday has become a pivotal moment for industries worldwide, and the streaming sector is no exception. To explore how streaming platforms capitalize on the event, The Streaming Wars spoke with industry executives from leading companies such as MyBundle TV, Bango, eClerx, and Giant Worldwide. Their insights reveal how strategic promotions, innovative bundling, and operational excellence drive growth and transform how consumers engage with streaming services during the holiday season.
Black Friday’s Role in Driving Growth for Streaming Platforms
Subscriber Acquisition and Growth
Black Friday presents streaming platforms with an unparalleled opportunity to attract new subscribers through strategic promotions and limited-time offers that tap into consumer excitement and holiday spending trends.
Jason Cohen, CEO of MyBundle TV, explained how Black Friday offers streaming services a golden opportunity to boost subscriber numbers through attractive promotional deals. Discounted subscription packages and limited-time offers create a sense of urgency, enticing consumers to try out services they might otherwise overlook.
“Especially for services people don’t yet have, the incremental streaming service is one of those things that we can live without but then don’t want to once we have them. That is when a ‘once a year’ promotion can be so powerful. Customers will try a Peacock for $1.99/month, realize how much great content there is that they’ve never heard of, and still be customers years later. In fact, Max had some data that showed their churn on Black Friday customers last year was even lower than their typical customers,” Cohen said.
Streaming platforms often design their promotions to coincide with the broader holiday shopping season, capitalizing on consumers’ willingness to spend on self-indulgence and gift purchases. As Cohen noted, “There is so much holiday shopping going on that treating yourself for a couple of bucks a month with no long-term contract is a great value.” Platforms like Hulu and Disney+ have leveraged discounted holiday rates to attract millions of new users during Black Friday in previous years, demonstrating how strategic pricing can drive growth.
Retention and Long-Term Value
While acquiring new subscribers is crucial, turning them into loyal customers requires platforms to leverage engaging content, personalized recommendations, and innovative discovery mechanisms to maximize long-term value.
Cohen also emphasized how turning Black Friday deal-seekers into loyal, long-term subscribers requires a thoughtful strategy. Streaming platforms aim to hook users with premium content and seamless discovery mechanisms to maximize engagement. He remarked, “Getting people into the door with great deals is a good first step, but ensuring they engage enough with enough content over X amount of time is the magic. It’s interesting how some services only offer discounts for 2 months while others extend it to 3, 6, or even a year. Content discovery and recommendations are key areas for improvement to retain customers,”.
Platforms increasingly rely on data-driven insights to personalize user experiences and recommend relevant content. Jason highlighted the importance of collaboration within the industry to improve discovery, stating, “Specifically, more avenues for a streaming service to make sure their new customers are aware of the great content available, outside of their own app. MyBundle’s mobile app is a big step in that direction, but there is a lot more collaborative work that can be done to make the experience and customer lifetime value greater.”
Revenue Generation and Advertising Impact
Increased Ad Impressions and Revenue
Ad-supported video services benefit immensely from holiday-season traffic. The surge in viewership leads to increased ad impressions, while the higher CPMs during this period further boost revenue. Streaming platforms experience greater demand from advertisers as limited inventory during the holidays drives up ad pricing, making Black Friday campaigns a crucial opportunity to maximize revenue.
Impact on Year-End Financial Targets
Platforms increasingly view Black Friday campaigns as integral to meeting their Q4 financial objectives. By drawing in new subscribers with limited-time offers, they boost immediate revenue and create long-term opportunities for customer retention and upselling.
We previously wrote about MyBundle’s platform aggregating the best Black Friday streaming deals. The platform integrates with MyBundle’s website and white-label marketplaces offered to over 270 broadband ISPs.
Cohen emphasized the unique opportunity Black Friday provides for customers. “Black Friday is a tremendous opportunity for customers to try out streaming video services at a reduced cost compared to the normal retail price of each product. MyBundle wants to spotlight as many as possible, irrespective of whether the company has an affiliate or marketing agreement with the service.”
Spotlight on Current Black Friday Deals
Black Friday is a key moment for streaming platforms to attract new subscribers, and this year is no exception. Below are some standout deals currently available, showcasing how platforms leverage discounted pricing and bundles to appeal to consumers.
- Hulu: Ad-supported plan for $0.99/month for an entire year.
- Disney+ and Hulu Bundle: Both services bundled at $2.99/month for a year.
- Paramount+ and Showtime: Two months of streaming for $2.99/month.
- Peacock: Ad-supported plan for $1.99/month for six months with the promo code “REALDEALMONTHLY.”
- Max: Ad-supported plan discounted to $2.99/month for the first six months.
These campaigns highlight the importance of timing, value-driven offers, and strategic positioning during Black Friday. Platforms use discounts, bundles, and targeted marketing to attract new users while retaining existing ones. Future trends include deeper integration of AI and analytics to create personalized offers and improve customer retention.
Competitive Dynamics During Black Friday
Market Saturation and Differentiation
Jason noted the challenges streaming platforms face in a crowded market during Black Friday and suggested effective strategies to stand out. “Without having the data to back it up, I would think heavy discounts (75%) on a 4-6 month ad-supported tier could be highly effective. It entices users to try the service, keeps them engaged with content, and allows the platform to generate revenue from ads,” he said.
The Role of Bundling
Bundling has emerged as a powerful strategy for streaming platforms to attract new subscribers and enhance their offerings during Black Friday. By combining streaming services with hardware, data packs, or other complementary products, companies create compelling value propositions that appeal to a wide range of consumers. This approach not only simplifies decision-making for users but also fosters innovative partnerships across industries.
Giles Tongue, VP of Marketing at Bango, described how bundling has become a cornerstone strategy for customer acquisition during Black Friday. He highlighted its evolution and the imaginative approaches to combining services and products. “Bundling has evolved a long way since telcos started offering call time, SMS, and data plans together with a handset. Thanks to products like the Digital Vending Machine, we’re making it really easy for 3rd party products to be bundled together. Bundles can make great customer acquisition tools, and during the feeding frenzy of Black Friday, you can expect to see 3rd and 1st party products coming together in increasingly imaginative ways,” Tongue said.
Giles provided examples of effective bundling strategies that appeal to consumers. “Whether that’s games consoles with data packs or multiple streaming services at attractive prices, it’s a brilliant opportunity for streaming services and subscription products to acquire new customers and for companies like mobile operators to leverage bundling and deals to grow their customer base.”
He also highlighted the types of offers consumers should expect during Black Friday. “This year, look out for price discounts, extended trial or free periods, and for great value hardware plus software combinations,” Tongue added.
These imaginative bundling strategies enhance value for consumers and open up opportunities for partnerships between streaming services, hardware manufacturers, and telecom providers. The ability to combine various offerings into a seamless package allows streaming platforms to stand out in a crowded market while providing added convenience for users.
Operational Challenges and Solutions
Scaling Infrastructure
Streaming platforms must ensure their systems can handle the surge in traffic during Black Friday. Without proper load testing across critical processes, user experience can suffer significantly during this peak period.
Titus Bicknell, Executive Chairman of Giant Worldwide, discussed the operational challenges streaming platforms face during Black Friday. “The biggest challenge during a Black Friday surge is that load testing often prioritizes playback while neglecting other critical processes like sign-ups—a write-heavy operation that heavily relies on third-party vendors like merchant services. Even subsystems like recommendations or watchlists, if overloaded, can prevent a viewer from accessing the content they want. At that point, all the load testing done on playback becomes irrelevant.” Bicknell said.
Customer Support and User Experience
Delivering exceptional customer support is crucial during Black Friday, as surges in concurrent users can strain systems. Efficient management of inquiries and seamless issue resolution is vital to retaining new subscribers.
Michael Hutchison, Customer Experience leader at eClerx, highlighted the importance of providing exceptional customer service during peak periods. “Streaming Services should be preparing themselves for surges in traffic with the Black Friday promotions and ensuring the customer experience is a positive one. Spikes in concurrent users can cause infrastructure vulnerabilities and issues with payment processing, which can lead to abandoned sign-ups for new subscriptions. Customer Experience teams need to be ready with promo code redemptions and efficient execution at an omnichannel level to ensure new users can be retained. There’s also the need to handle data processing efficiently and monitor the performance of agents during this heightened customer service period to ensure the customer experience was positive – and be ready with the right technology and analytics,” Hutchison explained.
Wrapping Up
Black Friday represents a high-stakes moment for streaming platforms to capture new subscribers, increase revenue, and strengthen competitive positioning. Companies that leverage innovative bundling, personalized recommendations, and operational excellence are well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunity. As the industry evolves, platforms must balance acquisition strategies with long-term retention efforts to stay ahead in the crowded streaming market.
This article was contributed by Kirby Grines, Ragul Thangavel, and The Streaming Wars Staff.
