Streaming Year in Review 2026
Two stories dominated streaming media in 2025: Netflix versus the rest and YouTube takes TV. YouTube may be the bigger story. “Netflix knows who its competition is,” said media guru Evan Shapiro at IBC2025. “It’s YouTube.” No one was really surprised when YouTube CEO Neal Mohan declared in his “Our Big Bets for 2025” blog post in February 2025 that “YouTube is the new television.” That’s because the figures don’t lie. In the same post, Mohan revealed that TV screens have officially overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S.”
“The ‘new’ television doesn’t look like the ‘old’ television,” Mohan wrote. “It’s interactive and includes things like Shorts, … podcasts, and live streams, right alongside sports, sitcoms and talk shows people already love.” Noting that 45 million Americans watched election-related content on the platform, he underscored, “YouTube will remain the epicenter of culture.”
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s February 2025 shot across the bow of streaming and traditional TV
YouTube’s Broadcast Frenemies Respond
Already the largest internet TV provider in the U.S., with more than 9 million subscribers, YouTube held 12.5% of all TV use in May 2025, the highest share of TV for any streamer to date, according to Nielsen. Nielsen also notes that YouTube Main (excluding YouTube TV) is up more than 120% since 2021, leading a collection of free services (such as Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi), which has been “a major driver of streaming’s overall success.”
In the U.K., regulator Ofcom reported in July 2025 that YouTube was the second-most-watched streaming service behind the BBC. Among those ages 16–34, YouTube was the most-watched service overall.
YouTube has become the indispensable distribution partner for studios and broadcasters. More and more broadcast content is being carried on YouTube, with evidence to suggest that this does drive more viewers back to its source. But this journey is not without a hitch. Despite tapping new revenue from an ad sales pact with YouTube and claiming that views of its content on the platform have leaped 169%,
U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 warns of the challenges of working with social media networks. “We have no control over third-party platforms,” said Louisa Compton, Channel 4’s head of news, at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August. “The algorithms are shady and non-transparent. I also believe public service broadcasters’ content should be [given prominence] on those applications.”
Starting in late October 2025, Disney pulled its content from YouTube TV for 2 weeks, saying that YouTube was refusing to pay fair rates for its channels. (YouTube claimed that Disney was using the blackout as a negotiating tactic that would have resulted in higher prices for its subscribers.)
“Social media have the central ability to control the media experience of the audience,” said Kevin Mayer, co-founder and co-CEO of Candle Media, at the RTS Cambridge Convention 2025 in September. His company owns CoComelon, the largest family channel on YouTube, with nearly 200 million subscribers. Yet, Mayer highlighted the vulnerability of relying on algorithms that could change overnight. “YouTube is hard to deal with at times. They tweak their algorithm. … The power and the global nature of [social media] platforms is undeniable [but] you do have to be very careful about it,” he said.
Nonetheless, 85% of internet users watch YouTube each month, with nearly one in five watching full-length movies and TV shows on the platform, notes Ampere Analysis. Significantly, it is 35–64-year-olds who are powering YouTube’s “golden age of film and TV,” it says.
Expect this to continue into 2026, with a “stronger emphasis on driving consumption on TV through licensed, longtail movies and classic TV series,” predicts Jason Platt Zolov, a senior consultant at Hub Entertainment Research. “By packaging and promoting familiar titles in ways that appeal to audiences encountering them for the first time, YouTube is poised to extend its dominance beyond shortform and capture more living-room viewing.”
Paramount Tops Netflix in Battle to Acquire Warner Bros. Discovery
In a bidding process in which Paramount Skydance was the pundits’ favorite, Netflix bid $82.7 billion (an equity value of $72 billion) for Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming and studio business in early December and entered negotiations with the company.
Immediately following the Netflix bid, Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders rejected an upgraded offer from Paramount Skydance valuing the entire business at $108.4 billion. In addition, any deal must pass regulatory hurdles—including European regulators—and any deal reached after the principal parties come to terms could take up to 18 months to close.
After a protracted bidding war, Paramount Skydance emerged triumphant in the WarnerBros. Discovery acquisition sweepstakes.
In late February 2026, Paramount Skydance increased its offer to $111 billion in cash, or $31 per share, and stated that it would cover a $2.8 billion termination fee owed to Netflix should Warner Bros. Discovery break the deal and a $7 billion regulatory termination fee. The acquisition would be for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its film and TV studios and linear cable networks.
On Feb. 26, Netflix declined to raise its offer to match Paramount’s revised bid. At press time, the deal was expected to be finalized following a Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder vote on March 20.
If approved, the $111 billion deal would unite two major Hollywood studios and one of the deepest content libraries in the industry.
“For all the regulatory noise, this deal ultimately comes back to the fundamentals of the entertainment business,” says Ed Barton, research director at Caretta Research. “Control of premium IP and global distribution maximizes engagement and builds scale that compounds.”
Paramount Skydance’s franchises (Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Transformers, and SpongeBob SquarePants among them) combined with HBO’s premium positioning create a formidable global streaming proposition.
The resulting content juggernaut “would immediately become a more credible challenger to Netflix—not necessarily in raw scale on Day 1, but in depth and variety of monetizable franchises,” says Barton. “And while Netflix loses access to Warner Bros. IP in this scenario, it is far from vulnerable. It remains the most effective company in the market at monetizing IP at global scale.”
Three days after Warner formally signed an acquisition agreement, Paramount Skydance head David Ellison announced plans to merge the Paramount+ and HBO Max platforms, giving the combined platform 200+ million subscribers.
The combined Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery entity will operate with a net debt of $79 billion. The deal is backed by $54 billion in debt commitments from Citigroup, Apollo, and Bank of America, according to Reuters.
Paramount Skydance
In August 2025, more than a year after announcing its purchase of Paramount for $8 billion, Skydance Media closed the deal, with chairman and CEO David Ellison promising to turn his new toy into a “tech-forward company that blends the creative heart of Hollywood with the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley.”
In November, Paramount reported its first quarter since merging with Skydance. It made $6.7 billion for Q3, which was flat, year on year, as its TV division continued to struggle. The company also posted a net loss of $257 million based on merger-related expenses and restructuring costs.
The DTC side looked rosier. Streaming revenue increased 17% to $2.17 billion, with Paramount+ accounting for more than 80% of that, growing its subscriptions by 14% to more than 79 million. A unified technology stack is being introduced across Paramount+ and Pluto TV to enhance performance, improve user experience, and reduce costs. Paramount is also developing AI tools to power personalization and recommendations. The company raised Paramount+ prices in the U.S. in January 2026.
“Our direct-to-consumer business is our top priority,” Ellison wrote to shareholders. “We expect [it] to be profitable in 2025 with growth in profitability in 2026.”
Strength in Streaming
Strength in streaming continued to offset the structural weakness in traditional television in 2025 as studios shed their cable businesses and began to turn a profit from their DTC ventures. This macro trend is reflected in the swelling values of the streaming video market. While estimates vary according to research analyst, the global market size is projected to grow from $250 billion in 2025 to $1.6 trillion by 2035 or from $811 billion in 2025 to $2.6 trillion by 2032.
Overall, the U.S. remains the “largest and most influential” streaming video market in the world, according to PwC’s “Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2025–2029” report. It generated $61.9 billion in revenue in 2024 and is on track to reach $112.7 billion by 2029. The next largest market, per PwC, is China, which is one fifth the size.
For comparison, the global broadcasting and cable TV market was estimated at $356 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $450 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 4%. The global creator economy market size is expected to grow at more than 23% between now and 2033, by which time it will have a value of $1.3 trillion.
According to Ampere Analysis, streamers spent around $95 billion on content in 2025, surpassing commercial broadcasters, with Netflix leading the pack. It spent about $18 billion on content in 2025, and the free-spending streamer is “not anywhere near a ceiling,” according to Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann, as reported in Variety. He quoted these figures in March 2025, so if the deal for Warner Bros. Discovery proceeds, expect figures going forward to dwarf that. Pre-sale, Warner Bros. Discovery was planning to spend in the order of $19.5 billion on content, including sports, in 2025, according to MoffettNathanson.
MoffettNathanson also projected that Disney was tracking to outlay $23 billion in 2025; Amazon, $9.1 billion; and pre-merger Paramount Global, $15.2 billion.
Peacock
At the end of 2025, Comcast’s board approved the separation of most of the company’s cable television networks (including CNBC, MSNBC, and E!) and complementary digital platforms from its remaining businesses into a new entity called Versant Media Group. This process began a year previously.
Versant is an independent, publicly traded company led by Mark Lazarus, who will be living up to his name if he can turn around the fortunes of legacy media. At the same time, Versant acquired Free TV Networks, which provides both broadcast networks and FAST channels in the U.S. Comcast retains NBC, Bravo, and Peacock, which in 3Q 2025 reported 41 million subscribers and had a $217 million loss, following a $436 million loss for the same quarter in 2024.
A new package of NBA games in addition to Sunday Night Football games produced by NBC Sports is expected to give the streamer a leap into 2026. Peacock revenue dropped slightly to $1.4 billion in Q3 2025 compared with $1.5 billion in the same period in 2024, when the Paris Olympics boosted results.
Commenting on Q3 results, Comcast’s then-president Michael Cavanagh, now co-CEO, stressed the reliance that Peacock has on sports. “As audiences continue to shift from linear to streaming, the multiple benefits of sports becomes an even greater advantage,” he remarked. “Live sports continue to deliver strong viewership and ad performance across broadcast and streaming. [R]unning linear and streaming as one integrated media business gives us real scale and flexibility. It allows us to align programming, marketing, promotion and monetization across NBC, Peacock and our studios.”
Comcast Bids For Greater U.K. Share
November 2025 saw Comcast make a move for the broadcasting wing of U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV. The business, which includes ITV’s terrestrial TV channels and streaming platform ITVX, is valued at U.S.$2.1 billion. Comcast, which already owns pay TV broadcaster Sky, aims to create a U.K.-focused streaming giant with an advertising marketplace based on Comcast’s Universal Ads platform.
The deal would face regulatory scrutiny because of the monopoly it would hold (70% of domestic TV ads). However, Comcast also understands that the U.K. market, which currently supports five main public service broadcasters, is under increasing pressure to consolidate. If ITV were to be sold, pressure would grow on the BBC and Channel 4 to pool their resources, including their streaming services iPlayer and All4 (although the major public service broadcasters also combine to operate connected TV app Freely).
Peter Bazalgette, former chair of ITV and a shareholder, says, “There’s going to be an inevitable consolidation of domestic broadcasters all across Europe. There are four or five ... who can’t all have a longterm future against the streaming giants. There is going to be a consolidation, and ITV are going to lead it in the UK.”
Apple
In the year that Apple rebranded Apple TV+ to Apple TV, the tech company continued its policy of curated rather than volume content. Since Apple doesn’t release subscriber numbers, best guesses are that by the end of 2025, at least 45 million people were paying $12.99 a month to access shows like Slow Horses and F1: The Movie.
It’s reckoned that Apple scaled back its annual budget for content from $5 billion to $4.5 billion and is still operating the service at a $1 billion loss.
Amazon Prime Video
In 2025, Amazon defaulted all subscribers to an advertising tier even for paid users, unless they opted to pay extra to avoid ads. That default flip puts Amazon into a different category than other streamers—instead of discounting into an ad tier, Amazon is monetizing the entire base, notes Subscription Insider.
By the end of the year, Prime Video had launched advertising in 16 countries, including Australia, Brazil, India, and Japan, and announced that advertising reaches 315 million monthly viewers, up from 200 million in April 2024. It does not break out ad revenue for Prime Video, but in 3Q 2025, total ad revenue across all of Amazon was $17.7 billion, up 24% year over year. Calling the 315 million figure “a transformative milestone,” Jeremy Helfand, VP of Prime Video Advertising, says, “We’re just beginning to unlock what’s possible when premium entertainment, engaged viewers, and innovative adtech converge with relevant and performant advertising at this unprecedented scale.”
“2026 could see Amazon Prime Video introduce a universal video search experience that spans platforms—including services outside the Amazon ecosystem,” predicts Mark Loughney, senior consultant at Hub Entertainment Research. “By positioning itself as the easiest place to find anything to watch, Amazon stands to become a default viewing hub, with more consumers centralizing and managing their subscriptions through the Prime Video interface.”
Disney
In Disney’s Q3 2025 earnings report, CEO Bob Iger made a point of highlighting the success of its orientation to streaming: “Our DTC business was running a $4 billion operating loss just three years ago,” but by Q4 2025, this had swung to $352 million in DTC operating income, a 39% increase from the previous year. There are now 131.6 million Disney+ subscribers, an increase of 3.8 million compared to Q3 2025, split roughly 50/50 between domestic and international. There are also 64 million Hulu subscribers, bringing the combined Disney+ and Hulu base to 195.7 million.
Since June 2025, when it closed a $9 billion deal to buy Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu, Disney wholly owns Hulu, which it plans to fold into the Disney+ app. From Q1 2026, Disney will no longer report subscriber numbers for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ because “the metric has become less meaningful” for evaluating the performance of its businesses, management said.
Full-year revenue increased 3% to $94.4 billion, a performance that was considered flat by the markets and was dragged down by its linear business, where domestic networks revenue and operating income dropped 16% and 21%, respectively. In 2026, Disney anticipates spending $24 billion on content across entertainment and sports.
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