If you can't beat 'em, form a mutually beneficial business arrangement with 'em.

With CBS, HBO and ESPN rolling out standalone subscription services, there's some thought that the traditional bundle model of programming and services offered by cable and broadband providers is dying — to be eventually replaced by the "a la carte" option in which people can pick and choose each service.

Not so fast.

Verizon FiOS has a new offer that shows how the bundle isn't dead yet, and that the changing media economy is set to create some uneasy alliances. Analysts at BTIG Research (free registration required) noticed over the weekend that Verizon was offering a year of Netflix as part of its "triple play" package for Internet, television and phone.

The deal is limited to New York residents and is just a test run, available for only 11 days.

BTIG notes that while cable/broadband providers have touted Netflix before when advertising the quality of their Internet service, this is the first time a major U.S. cable provider has offered a subscription to Netflix as part of its packages.

There's a good chance it won't be the last. Netflix originally emerged as a cable-killer — the type of service that could convince people to stop paying their expensive cable bills that included dozens of unwatched channels.

But as Netflix matured, it quickly became apparent that there were only so many people comfortable with ending their cable subscription. Netflix's own plan has emphasized international growth as a way to find new subscribers — an implicit admission that its previously considerable growth in the U.S. is stalling.

"Investor confidence in Netflix’s subscriber growth prospects is clearly shaken after Q3 2014 results, yet as we see aggressive promotion from ISPs such as Verizon, we are increasingly confident in Netflix’s ability to achieve our 2017 100 mm worldwide subscribers target," wrote Rich Greenfield, an analyst for BTIG.

A spokesperson for Netflix noted that the company has similar deals in Europe, in which providers buy Netflix subscriptions that are then given to new customers.

Meanwhile, cable/broadband providers are managing their own market transition. In March, reports emerged that the total number of pay TV subscribers fell for the first time. In August, a separate report showed that cable companies now have more broadband subscriptions than cable subscriptions.

With more customers turning to broadband, it only makes sense for cable/broadband companies to add in offers for the content that flows over those pipes. The cable companies get something else to offer (and maintain the bundle model), while Netflix gets to reach some of the U.S. households that it has not yet tapped.

It also marks an interesting start of a relationship between two companies that have at times been at odds with each other. Verizon and Netflix had been in a battle over Internet traffic. Netflix generates a lot of it. Verizon claimed Netflix was not doing enough to help it move efficiently. The two had signed a peering agreement that was supposed to solve the issue, but various reports showed service did not improve.

That battle made sense and still does, to some extent. Verizon as a cable company competed with Netflix. Verizon as a broadband company has business interests in common, particularly when it means both groups can help solve their growth problems.