Sprint Corporation announced this Wednesday a landmark partnership with Hulu to offer the streaming service for free to their customers in a bundle with a subscription to the Unlimited Freedom plan. The offer will go into effect this Friday, November 17 to clients in the United States.
The announcement comes just days after SoftBank Group stepped in to end talks with T-Mobile about a potential merger between them and their subsidiary. The “un-carrier” CEO John Legere also said the deal would not have been fair to investors and that it would bring no significant growth opportunities to either of the firms.
As the race to bridge the gap between the two underdogs and the duopoly of Verizon and AT&T continues, strategic alliances with streaming giants or other content-based services might be key to gain an advantage over rivals.
Sprint’s Hulu deal doesn’t add costs to clients
Contrary to what most people might expect by now, the new deal by Hulu and Sprint does not add any additional costs to the $25 per month per line subscription to their Unlimited Freedom plan.
If anything, it adds value when we account for the true worth of a standard Hulu signup. Hiring the service currently costs $5.99 per month due to an ongoing offer, but once the true price kicks in, we’re looking at a $7.99 worth per month completely free.
With Hulu, Sprint clients will get access to a diverse content catalog they might not have seen before. This is important because national estimates suggest 80% of all mobile users are now streaming video, and the new age of original content is nowhere near finished.
Shows available at Hulu include classic and contemporary comedies like Seinfeld and Atlanta; top-rated dramas like This is Us and The Good Doctor, and award-winning original content like The Handmaid’s Tale.
What are other carriers doing to lure or keep customers?
Sprint, though is not pioneering in their strategy. AT&T has been offering DirecTV Now as an add-on service to their Unlimited Choice customers for an extra $10, while T-Mobile started doing the same in September with a Netflix bundle for its One plan subscribers.
Some partnership agreements are as obvious as they are significant, with AT&T’s HBO bundle being a clear example of their intentions. The telecom giant has long been in talks with Time Warner to acquire their business for a whopping $85 billion.
Sprint, hopefully, will draw a wider customer base from this offer, although financial gains will only go in Hulu’s way. Both direct advertising through the new customers it gains and a straightforward agreement with the carrier will allow the streaming giant to capitalize on this wireless rivalry.
Source: Sprint