An Overview of the Streaming Industry
In recent years, the film and television industries have been completely transformed by the development of streaming platforms. These on-demand online entertainment providers consist of original programming and legacy content.
YouTube was the first popular video-streaming website, though modern streaming platforms were pioneered by Netflix, which debuted its video-on-demand services in 2007. The streaming industry has rapidly expanded to the point that streaming residuals have played a key in several of the most recent Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes.
The overall prevalence of streaming culture cannot be overstated in today’s entertainment industry. The average American engages with digital media for upwards of 13 hours every day. Nearly 4 out of 5 households are subscribed to at least one platform. The Motion Picture Association reported that global streaming subscriptions exceeded 1.1 billion in 2020.
Founded in 1998, Netflix has the largest global membership among all streamers, with approximately 238.5 million subscribers as of June 2023. The company began as a direct-to-consumer mail-order DVD service, a business they continued to operate until 2023. The competitive and mercurial nature of the developing streaming landscape is evidenced by the fact that Netflix remains the only profitable platform. The streamer posted $12.44 billion in profits in 2022, a .66 percent increase over 2021.
Amazon Prime does not share official subscriber numbers, but estimates are around 200 million. The streaming platform’s membership is driven by the many additional benefits associated with Prime, including discounts and expedited shipping times on Amazon orders. Amazon’s resources have also allowed Prime to produce some of the most expensive streaming content in film and television history. The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is the most expensive television program ever produced. At $58 million per episode, the series carried a total production cost of $465 million. By comparison, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy of films cost a combined $281 million.
Disney+ is the third most used streaming platform globally, with over 146 million subscribers. Disney controls some of the most valuable intellectual property in entertainment, including an extensive library of classic family films and movies from Pixar Studios, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Star Wars franchise. Even so, the platform has cost the studio over $11 billion since its launch in 2019.
With approximately 124 million subscribers, Tencent Video is the fourth most streamed platform worldwide. iQIYI is the only other streaming platform with a subscriber base exceeding 100 million users, at 106 million. Other notable streaming platforms include Max, Paramount+, Hulu, and Apple TV. The streaming data service provider FlixPatrol maintains statistics for over 80 unique streaming platforms, some with subscriber bases numbering fewer than 200,000 users.
The future of streaming services is unclear. Viewers can expect unskippable commercials, higher prices, and less original content as companies search for profitability. That said, it is unlikely that streaming will disappear, as it exists as a popular form of entertainment beyond film and television. For example, 82 million Americans pay an average of $10 monthly for digital music, while the video game streaming industry generates $9.3 billion annually.
