Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Apple, Disney and NBC all want to give you free streaming TV, but don't expect the party to last

Apple, Disney and NBC all want to give you free streaming TV, but don't expect the party to last

With several new streaming services launching this year and next year, the companies involved are offering enticing deals to sign up for free. This will help Apple, AT&T, Disney and NBCUniversal gain a large base of subscribers quickly.
But eventually those freebies will expire, and prices will go up.

It’s a good time to be a cord-cutter.

Between now and the first half of 2020, Apple, Disney, AT&T and Comcast’s NBCUniversal are all launching their new video streaming services. (Apple’s service, Apple TV+, launched Friday.)

Even better for streamers: All of these services are available for free, one way or another.

Until now, the streaming space has been dominated by Netflix and its 150+ million global subscribers. But newcomers are starting to experiment with a “freemium” model where customers can get in for free or cheap at first. The hope is they like what they see enough to start paying later on.


Here’s the quick breakdown:

-Apple will give customers a free year of Apple TV+ when they buy a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV box. Subscribers to --Apple Music’s student plan also get the TV service for free. (Normal price: $4.99 per month)

-Verizon will give wireless customers and new Fios cable customers a year of Disney+ for free. (Normal price: $6.99 per month)

-AT&T will offer HBO Max, which includes loads of extra content from across WarnerMedia on top of the standard HBO stuff, for free to current “regular” HBO subscribers. (Normal price: $14.99 per month)

-Comcast is expected to give away an ad-supported version of its Peacock streaming service to everyone, CNBC reported Friday. (There will be an ad-free version of Peacock that costs money, but NBCUniversal hasn’t revealed a price yet.)

-That’s a lot of free stuff! A special congrats if you’re a Verizon Wireless subscriber who bought a new iPhone and also subscribes to HBO - you just hit the jackpot of free content.

The free offers should help each service grow at a faster clip than Netflix ever did. Apple, for example, will likely sell about 100 million gadgets eligible for the free year of Apple TV+ by the end of the quarter. Verizon already has over 150 million wireless subscribers. Even if a modest percentage of those customers take the free offers, Disney+ and Apple TV+ will have tens of millions of subscribers within months.

So, what’s the catch? (Because there’s always a catch.)


Just look to Netflix for guidance.

When Netflix first launched its streaming service in 2007, it was bundled together with its DVD-by-mail service. Eventually, it split of a streaming-only plan at $9.99 per month, a price that held firm for several years. But then users became hooked, and Netflix gradually began raising prices. Millions of people happily paid more, and Netflix’s subscribers kept growing. Today, Netflix’s most popular streaming plan costs $12.99 per month.

Netflix’s new streaming rivals are signalling that they’ve adopted the same strategy: Get subscribers in with a broad offering of engaging stuff to watch for cheap, then gradually raise the price over time. The deals may sound good today, but the streaming business is expensive and these companies have to make money somehow. AT&T, for example, said it expects HBO Max to be profitable in 2025.

In an increasingly crowded streaming space, it’s going to be impossible for everyone to be a winner. Something will have to give. We already saw the first casualty in the streaming wars on Oct. 29 when Sony announced it would shut down its live TV streaming service PlayStation Vue early next year. It likely won’t be the last one to die.

So binge while you still can. The free ride’s not going to last forever.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×