Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 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

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
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
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
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
×