The Future of Streaming Platforms: Key Trends and Outlook

The Future of Streaming Platforms: Key Trends and Outlook

By Nicole Sheynin, Content Marketing Manager and Michelle Brophy, Director of Research, Tech, Media and Telecom December 25, 2025

Editor’s Note: On December 5, 2025, Netflix announced its intentions to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s studios and streaming assets for an enterprise value of nearly $83 billion. On December 8, Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The competing offers highlight several themes shaping the streaming industry today, including the growing need for scale, the tension between tech-native and legacy media models, and rising regulatory scrutiny around consolidation. We are tracking these developments closely using the AlphaSense platform, including how investors, industry experts, and executives are discussing strategic synergies, competitive positioning, the role of AI, and changing viewer behavior.

Less than two decades after Netflix first introduced its streaming service in 2007, the video streaming industry has grown to a valuation of over $811 billion in 2025, and is projected to reach a whopping $2.66 trillion by 2032. Streaming services have taken over as one of the leading forms of digital entertainment, significantly disrupting cable and broadcast television, and completely transforming consumer behavior and expectations.

In the United States, streaming media accounts for roughly 54% of American adults’ weekly video viewing, with the average American spending roughly 23 hours a week on streaming services. U.S. consumers on average are subscribed to 3.92 video streaming services.

Today, the digital media space is dominated by household name giants Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Max, and Apple TV+, among several others. Each streaming platform offers its own library of movies and TV shows and has a differentiated approach to attracting subscribers.

As the streaming industry has matured, the balance between profitability, competitiveness, and customer retention has become increasingly difficult to strike. As a result, many platforms are shifting their strategy from subscriber acquisition to profitability — through ad revenue, bundling, sports rights, and adding value to retain existing customers.

Below, we use the AlphaSense platform to:

Top Players in Streaming Services

Netflix

In addition to being the first mover in the streaming space, Netflix remains the most subscribed to video streaming platform, with over 312 million subscribers worldwide, as of June 2025. Its projected revenue for FY25 is a whopping $45B. While Netflix began as an aggregator of movies and TV shows, it’s since become a well-respected producer of original content, which helps it attract new customers.

Netflix differs from its competitors in several key ways. First, it’s a tech company, which means it’s more adaptable to new technologies and also has the resources to continually improve its tech based on subscribers’ preferences. For instance, Netflix is known for its highly accurate algorithm that provides customized recommendations for viewers based on their interests and preferences. Second, unlike for the majority of its competitors, streaming accounts for 100% of Netflix’s total revenue.

In 2023, Netflix made the controversial decision to crack down on password sharing when it recognized it was losing out on both subscribers and revenue by allowing multiple people to use a single account. While the decision initially led to a stock dip, as well as an outcry from consumers, it ultimately resulted in a surge of subscribers and a revenue jump.

As it is considered to be the “default streamer”, Netflix has flexibility to raise prices above competitors’ levels. Netflix’s membership cost is $17.99 per month, with a lower-priced ad tier at $7.99 a month and a higher-priced premium tier at $24.99 a month. Users can also add a limited number of members to their account for $6.99 each.

Amazon Prime Video

Introduced in 2011 by e-commerce giant Amazon, this streaming service has about 350M subscribers as of 2025. However, it’s important to note that this service is built into Amazon Prime subscribers’ packages.

Like Netflix, Amazon both aggregates existing content and produces award-winning original content for its platform. Additionally, for movies and shows not available in Amazon’s free on-demand library, the option to rent or buy for an added fee and watch immediately is available.

In 2024, Amazon introduced ads to the default Prime Video offering, with the option to pay an extra fee for no ads. This decision aligns with the overall industry trend of relying on ad-tier monetization. In the past couple years, Amazon has also prioritized live sports as a key growth driver for Prime Video. Analyst research on the AlphaSense platform suggests that sports content is critical for Prime member acquisition and retention and will continue to be a key growth lever for Prime Video,

Disney Plus

One of the newer streaming platforms, Disney Plus was established in 2019 and has already amassed over 126 million subscribers, as of mid-2025. The main reason for its success is the immense popularity and demand for its content universe.

In the last few years, Disney Plus subscriber numbers declined and are now growing very slowly. Disney has recently been pivoting its strategy from subscriber acquisition to improving profitability per user.

Disney Plus is priced at $9.99 for the ad-tier version and $13.99 per month for no ads.

HBO Max

Established in 2011 and originally called HBO Go, HBO Max has been highly successful, largely due to its high-quality, award-winning, and often viral original content. As of early 2025, HBO Max has just over 120 million subscribers. For more on Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. — including company documents, news, broker research, and expert transcripts — check out the Warner Bros. Discovery page in AlphaSense.

Apple TV+

Another relatively recent entrant, Apple TV+ was established in 2019 and is owned and operated by Apple Inc. Compared to its competitors, Apple TV+ has a much smaller content library and is also priced more affordably at $9.99 per month.

As of July 2025, Apple TV+ has around 45 million subscribers.

Short Form Video

While short-form video competition is not a subscription video on demand (SVOD) player, it does represent a new medium that is more attractive to younger viewers and is steadily gaining market share in the streaming space. Google’s YouTube and TikTok represent a unique threat to the streaming business.

Key Trends in Streaming

Streaming Bundles

Streaming service bundles are becoming more common and will likely keep growing in popularity. Firstly, they provide more flexibility and variety to the consumer while also being much more cost-effective. Secondly, bundling is effective at reducing churn.

Disney has offered a Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN bundle for years — which has helped them retain customers. In recent years, major players like Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney have launched cross-company bundles.

Profitability Over Subscribers

Throughout the history of streaming services, subscriber count was seen as the ultimate indicator of success or failure. In early 2022, Netflix announced that it had lost subscribers for the first time in a decade. This was a turning point for the industry.

Since 2022, virtually all the major streaming platforms enacted measures to improve their bottom line — price hikes.

Ad Tiers

History seems to be repeating itself, as more and more streaming services are moving toward elements of cable and broadcast television to maintain profitability.

The new motion is paying off — Netflix is set to generate roughly $2 billion in ad revenue by 2026, and Disney consistently pulls in over $3 billion in ad revenue each year since 2021.

AI, Customization, and Personalization

Artificial intelligence has disrupted every industry over the past decade, and streaming is no exception. Highly successful streaming companies know that in order to retain subscribers for the long haul, they must do more than simply deliver content — they must create an experience that feels unique and personalized to each consumer.

Streaming platforms that create original content have also been using AI and data analytics to assess what is most popular with their user base.

Sports Appeal

Another major trend driving the streaming industry is sports programming. Streaming platforms have recognized that a substantial pool of subscribers is interested in streaming live sporting events. Adding sports streaming helps platforms reduce churn.

Future Outlook on Streaming Platforms

The streaming landscape is undoubtedly changing. Sub-scale platforms are likely to consider M&A as larger players expand content and technology and retain pricing power.

According to a 2025 Deloitte survey, 47% of consumers say they pay too much for the streaming platforms they use, and 41% say the content available on the streaming platforms is not worth the price.