In recent months, there’s been a steady drumbeat of pay TV headline stories, including the short-lived rise and fall of Venu, Disney’s planned majority stake in Fubo, and the upcoming streaming service launches of long-time pay TV stalwarts CNN, FOX, and ESPN
A significant shift that has come out of all of this change is the ability for pay TV operators to offer so-called “skinny bundles,” more focused packages which charge consumers only for the channels they choose. (Antenna Co-Founder and President Rameez Tase has a deep dive on the recent history of pay TV, skinny bundles, and sports rights on his personal blog.)
The recent introduction of DirecTV STREAM’s Genre Packs is the most significant skinny bundle move to date. DirecTV STREAM’s Signature Packs are typical pay TV packages which contain the usual channels and range in price from $79.99 to $154.99; the new Genre Packs are category-specific aggregations of channels which range in price from $34.99 for the MyEntertainment or MiEspanol offerings, to $69.50 for MySports. According to Antenna estimates, Genre Packs are accounting for a modest but growing portion of DirecTV STREAM Sign-ups since their introduction in January 2025. Antenna estimates about 7,300 of DirecTV Stream Sign-ups in March 2025 went to Genre Packs, 10% of the total.
With Opening Day 2025 for Major League Baseball occurring late in March, and the 2025/2026 Season for the National Football League still several months away, it will be interesting to see if consumer adoption of Genre Packs and, more generally, skinny bundles, increases.
For more detailed information on Antenna’s methodology and definitions of core metrics, please visit http://www.antenna.live/methodology.
