Cord cutting has become a trend among consumers looking to save money on traditional cables. MyBundle co-founder and CEO Jason Cohen joins his Yahoo Finance to talk about how his business is helping consumers “shave” the cord to save on streaming costs. Let's discuss.
Cohen explains how the streaming ecosystem has become complex. “Let's think about the steps. Step one is, what is the right service for me? That's what we're doing today. Fast forward to the end goal, and we're doing it. In our partnership with broadband providers, they not only offer discounts, they also offer them for free. Get $100 in streaming credits when you sign up for a gig. When you sign up or upgrade to Gig, we'll give you 6 of these services. That's why we're working diligently with the broadband industry to help make these offers a reality. ”
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Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
video transcript
Josh Lipton: You've probably heard of cutting the umbilical cord, and our next guest is helping consumers shave the umbilical cord. MyBundle helps you package streaming and cable options for your audience in an ever-changing streaming landscape. To learn more, we spoke with Jason Cohen, co-founder and CEO of MyBundle. Jason, I'm glad you're here. First of all, Jason, for those of us who may not be familiar with it, could you tell us a little bit more about MyBundle? What do consumers turn to you for?
Jason Cohen: of course. No, Josh, first of all, thank you for having me. So we do different things, so it's always fun. The first thing we do is, like you said, help consumers who are looking for an alternative to a cable or satellite TV package. We help users find out whether YouTube TV, Hulu Live, or Slings has the channel they need. This can save you a lot of money very easily.
That's why, for consumers, we're also committed to finding the best streaming service packages for cord cutters and cord nevers, finding shows and movies across services, talking about your watch list and what's next. We support you. This way, we're helping consumers really navigate this new and very complex streaming ecosystem. And we're partnering, and I'm sure we'll get there, but we're partnering with the broadband industry and the streaming services themselves to really integrate everything and make the ecosystem work better.
Julie Hyman: Jason, I see — so if you bundle the services, does the user get some sort of discount? I mean, that's something that companies like Verizon are starting to offer here. Or is this meant to be tailored so people can get what they want to see?
Jason Cohen: Yes, great question. So, like in step 1, think about what is the right service for you. And that's what we're doing today. Fast forward all the way to the end goal that we're working towards with our broadband providers, and they're not just going to give you a discount, they're going to give it to you for free. Get $100 in streaming credits when you sign up to go live. When you sign up or upgrade to go live, we'll give you 6 months of this service for free. We are therefore working seriously with the broadband industry to help make these offers a reality.
You mentioned Verizon's Plus Play. Think of this as a Plus Play for the rest of the broadband industry. And there are approximately 3,000 internet providers. That's kind of crazy. And that platform sits between broadband providers and streaming services.
Josh Lipton: And Jason, there are so many streaming services at this point that it's hard to keep track. In other words, do consumers want all these options? Is the demand there?
Jason Cohen: Yeah. So we think from our research and other research and obviously from our conversations with consumers, it's not that consumers want less. It should be simple. I say the streaming industry doesn't need consolidation. Aggregation is necessary. So, like Julie said, if it's easy for consumers to bundle, if the more they bundle, the more they save, we think that's where this is all going, but ultimately Consumers don't want less. They just need someone to help them figure it all out and manage everything.
Julie Hyman: Jason, how do you make money? Are there any fees? Do you collect fees from these broadband companies? How does it work?
Jason Cohen: Yeah. Again, great question. There are several ways to do this. So what we're doing is basically the broadband provider pays us a monthly SaaS fee that we think is very cheap. But what this really means is that it can also help media companies and streaming services navigate this world. When you listen to their financial results, they all talk about bundling and finding new customers and retaining those customers. And how do they do it?
What MyBundle is doing is aggregating the broadband industry by streaming service, so they can just come to MyBundle for one integration and have access. Currently, he has over 220 broadband providers and 13 million Internet customers who are bundle partners. And he will get paid for the second part by the streaming service in the same way he pays smaller companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon.
The difference is, we're not a big tech company and we're not trying to eat their lunch. We say we're a small tech force and we're here to help. So we make money from our streaming services and share it with our broadband providers. And we really want everything that MyBundle does to create a win-win-win for consumers, broadband partners and streaming services, making this whole streaming ecosystem simpler.
Josh Lipton: Jason, there's a new sports streaming service coming out. Partnership between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. I just want to know your thoughts on that. What do you think the reception will look like? Is there a demand there?
Jason Cohen: Yeah. So one of the things we know with our tools is, yes, we know which channels people choose and what they're interested in. And there is no doubt that there are consumers who are interested in sports and those who are not. So right off the bat, like before I started MyBundle, I was actually in the financial world. I went back to my old job investing in media and communications at a hedge fund and I've been watching you guys.
We started MyBundle because we thought the internet would fragment everything. With the advent of the Internet, we will move from a closed system to an open ecosystem. The middle will be messy. We are right in the middle of it. There will be more services, more options, and more options. And what we're trying to do is match people who need those channels and don't need other channels, and the idea is to help people find it.
So we think there is a demand for it. The demand for streaming continues to grow. We will see a further shift away from traditional facility-based television to streaming. Specifically, whether it's this service or ESPN's upcoming direct-to-consumer service (an even slimmer version of it), I think we'll have more and more options. That's not a bad thing. But companies like MyBundle, big cable providers, or other companies like Verizon, like you said, there's somebody out there to help consumers get Humpty back on his feet again. That's not a bad thing, as long as you need to be there.
And Humpty Dumpty, I don't mean to kill that trope, but I think it would look a lot better. And the end result is much better for the consumer than it would have been with a little bit of support.
Julie Hyman: Jason, thank you so much. appreciate.
Jason Cohen: Thank you so much for having me.
