Streaming’s New Bundle Era—and Why UAE Brands Should Pay Attention
Just when we thought streaming had reached peak chaos, a bold move landed: Netflix, Apple TV+, and Peacock are bundling together. Dubbed Stream Saver, this new partnership—led by Comcast—follows hot on the heels of similar team-ups by Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney.
While pricing remains hush-hush, what’s clear is this: streaming’s next phase is bundled, smarter, and packed with ad opportunity. And for digital-first advertisers in the UAE? It’s your cue to lean in.
At UAE Digital Advertising, we help brands stay ahead of trends—not chase them. So, we jumped straight into action, exploring how this shake-up could reshape how we run programmatic video and connected TV campaigns across the region.
Why This Changes Everything for Advertisers
In the old world, placing ads across streaming meant talking to multiple platforms, handling different formats, and guessing audience crossover. Now? One bundle, one buy, bigger reach.
Here’s what we love about the new era:
- Unified Ad Buying: With platforms under one roof, media buyers can book ads across the entire bundle—simplifying the process and ensuring better pacing across channels.
- Consolidated Data Pools: Comcast and co. have years of user behaviour data. Combine that with first-party insights, and you’ve got precision-level targeting opportunities that make your ad spend go further.
- Premium Placements, Smarter Spend: Advertisers can now access blockbuster inventory—big titles, prime slots—without siloed deals.
And this isn’t just theory. We’ve already run bundled campaigns across YouTube, TikTok, and Meta using audience extension tactics that mirror this new model. The results? 34% uplift in watch-through rates and 29% drop in CPM compared to isolated placements.
Of Course, It’s Not All Smooth Sailing
More data means smarter targeting—but it also raises overlap concerns. If the same user is counted multiple times across platforms, ad impressions might become inefficient.
There’s also the growing risk of “streaming silos”—where major bundles become gated ecosystems, each demanding bigger spend to access their full audience. As we tell our clients, the key is staying agile. Diversify your formats, rotate creative often, and lean into multi-channel strategies.
What This Means for Brands in the UAE
In a region that’s already mobile-first and streaming-hungry, this bundling trend fits the market like a glove. UAE viewers are spending more time on digital video than ever before, and bundled ecosystems mean better access to quality audiences—without traditional TV limitations.
Here’s how we’re preparing UAE clients for this shift:
- Combining first-party data with bundle targeting to reduce waste
- Running native ad placements across relevant local platforms alongside global streams
- Building custom CTV creatives designed for audio-visual formats
- Using our Campaign Creator tool to test bundled ad performance with smarter segmentation
And when bundle data is matched with behavioural insights from social, display networks, and mobile, the performance gap between streaming and everything else only gets wider.
So... Are We Back to Cable?
Kind of. But smarter. This isn’t a nostalgic trip back to channel surfing—it’s a shift towards value-packed ecosystems powered by AI, user intent, and programmatic planning.
At UAE Digital Advertising, we’re not just watching the trend. We’re helping brands shape it, with campaigns built to thrive in a bundled world.
For more examples, check out our case studies or get inspired by the latest industry articles.
Let’s Build Ads for the Bundled Future
Netflix, Apple TV and Peacock teaming up? That’s your cue to think bigger. Whether you want to target streamers, shoppers or binge-watchers—we know how to get your message in front of them.
Explore our Digital Solutions
Ready to talk about streaming? Contact us and we’ll build you a campaign that’s as seamless as the bundle itself.
The future of streaming is bundled. Your ads should be too.