Streaming revenues reached $176 billion in 2025, officially surpassing pay-TV

The $176 billion crossover marks the definitive end of streaming as a secondary revenue stream and its emergence as the industry's primary economic engine. While the 2025 subscriber surge suggests market vitality, the lag in revenue growth reflects the lower ARPU of subsidized ad tiers and telco bundles. The ecosystem is now pivoting from rapid acquisition to aggressive price optimization and profit protection to counter imminent market saturation. Watch for 2026 subscriber churn rates as platforms raise premium tier prices to offset lower-yielding ad-supported growth.

The transition toward a streaming-first economy is accelerating as platforms prioritize margin over volume. According to Antenna data from April 2026, ad-supported plans reached 28% of total SVOD revenue in 2025, a significant jump from less than 5% in 2020. This shift is particularly visible in mature markets like the U.S., where more than 70% of net new subscriptions since 2023 have originated from ad-based tiers. Major players are responding to this saturation with consistent price hikes; for example, Netflix implemented two U.S. price increases within a 12-month period ending in March 2026, pushing its premium plan to $26.99 per month.

Beyond direct consumer subscriptions, the broader ecosystem is seeing a massive redirection of capital toward digital inventory. Per Omdia projections from April 2026, online video advertising is expected to reach $540 billion by 2030, eventually accounting for 53% of all television and video revenues. Social video giants like YouTube and Meta are currently captured within this growth, but traditional streamers are increasingly adopting the 'linearization' of their platforms through live sports and FAST channel integration. As noted by S&P Global in April 2026, average entry-level plan pricing across major U.S. services reached $10.77 following aggressive hikes from Apple TV, Peacock, and Hulu, signaling that the 'low-cost' era of streaming is concluding in favor of a hybrid 'Pay-TV 2.0' model.