Data Suggests UK Broadband ISP and TV Bundles are Growing

A new survey of over 2,000 UK adults, which was carried out four times over the past year by YouGov on behalf of Point Topic, has found that respondents who bundled their broadband ISP connection with a TV product has increased by 8% year-on-year (i.e. starting at 35% in Q2 2022 and rising to 43% in Q2 2023).

At present, there are a lot of question marks over the viability and attraction of bundling a premium TV service with broadband, with some ISPs even appearing to scale-back their commitment to such products. Consumers these days are under pressure from an ongoing cost of living crisis, while also having access to a lot more choice via multiple different streaming services and those don’t depend on a set-top-box for access (e.g. Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ etc.).

Despite all that, the new data clearly shows that there’s still plenty of interest in bundling TV products with broadband. Point Topic also found that this is even higher amongst those taking Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband lines. Of those respondents subscribed to a TV/video and broadband package, just over half (51%) on average were taking a full fibre service.

Big internet providers have historically seen TV products as a way to tackle churn (i.e. discouraging consumers from wanting to leave) and to attract new customers, with the data suggesting that there may still be some logic in this. Sky Broadband, BT and Virgin Media are particularly strong in this area.

In terms of the propensity to change ISP for a curated bundled TV and broadband service, the research noted that the percentage of net respondents “unlikely” to change ranged between 44% and 48%. However, in Q2 2023, there was a noticeable increase in the percentage of net respondents “likely” to change (38%) compared to the previous quarters.

Crucially, the percentage of respondents with a TV/video bundle increased from 35% in Q2 2022 to 43% in Q2 2023, indicating a gradual upward trend.

Additional Context

For the past three quarters, we asked survey respondents if they had changed Internet service providers within the past six months. For those respondents who did change providers, we then asked them to rank the influence of a TV/video bundle offering on their decision-making.

➤ From Q4 22 until Q2 23 a bundled TV/video service offering increased in importance amongst those who switched. In Q4 22 19% were completely influenced by a TV bundle, which grew to 27% in Q1 23 and 32% in Q2 23.

➤ On average across the three quarters, 23% of respondents were somewhat influenced by an ISP’s bundled TV service, while 30% were strongly influenced, indicating that there is room for growth within this market segment given that providers can get the balance right between gigabit capable full fibre and curated TV services that are affordable and present value for money.

However, the survey didn’t dig into the depths of what kind of TV solution consumers were actually taking, since we know of several operators that will bundle just a basic TV streaming box alongside their packages for a small additional fee (sometimes this can even be offered for free as an enticement).

For example, you can add Virgin Media’s STREAM box to a broadband plan for just £35 (one-off), but it’s not really something we would classify as a true Pay TV product unless you also take out an optional premium content subscription on top of that. Some customers may simply add the box as a “nice to have” extra, but then not use, although they’d still be counted above as having taken a TV product.

On the other hand, if the box itself helps the customer to decide that they should pick such a provider, then it’s still served part of its purpose – regardless of whether or not the customer actually uses it.