What is a skinny bundle?

Telcom is infamous for using acronyms and terms the general public does not understand. Skinny Bundle is one of those. Here is a futile attempt to explain what it means today.

A Skinny Bundle can mean a couple of things. Usually it refers to when cable, fiber, or satellite TV companies offer cheaper packages with less channels than the traditional bundle of 100 or 200 channels. Verizon Fios rocked the boat in April when it launched its skinny bundles packages that offered customers for the first time the ability to select 10 to 17 channels for $55 a month. Verizon offered its customers the ability to buy a Sports or entertainment stand alone package for the first time instead of the traditional bundle. Verizon's thinking was who needs 100 - 200 channels when the average customer only watches 17 channels per month (according to a recent Nielsen study)? 

Another version of a skinny bundle is when cable customers are offered a slimmed down bundle of Internet with a basic or simple TV package instead of the standard "Triple Play" of TV, Phone, and Internet for $99. These plans are launching because cable companies have noticed how many of their subscribers are watching Over The Top Television providers like Netflix and Hulu. Data points show that Netflix accounts for 35% of all Internet traffic in the US. The new skinny bundle is an attempt to gain some form of video revenue instead of losing it all to Netflix or others.

Amazon Prime and Dish Network's Sling are examples of the third type of the skinny bundle - a stand alone Over the Top Television Service that will work on any internet connection. Sling offers a package for $20 a month with popular linear (live television) programs from ESPN, TBS, Disney, etc. Cable companies like Comcast are experimenting with their own OTT offerings to compete with these new competitors. For example, Comcast has announced plans to roll out a $15 a month service for its Xfinity Internet customers that includes HBO and live broadcasts from the local television networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.  

Kudos to Verizon for firing the first shot over the bow and unbundling the traditional bundle. Bravo to Dish for launching a $20 package with ESPN.

The skinny bundle is going to help lower everyone's television bill and there is little doubt of the marketplace's appetite for a skinnier bundle. Let's hope our Internet rates don't go up to make up for the lost revenues caused by the skinny bundles.