Streaming
State of Play
Revised Nov 1, 2026The moment. Netflix delivered its Q3 forecast, revenue up 12% to $12.9 billion at a 34.6% operating margin, and then lowered its own sights: Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports the 2026 ad revenue projection cut to $2.7 billion from $3 billion, blamed on delays to new ad products while a supply glut hands buyers leverage on price. The Pixel and The Trade Desk are the answer it has offered. The house kept moving: Bela Bajaria and film chief Dan Lin are out, Peter Rice is in, 1,000 jobs are gone, David Fincher has exited, and The Ankler’s Richard Rushfield is already handicapping the film job. Skydance closed its $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger and immediately looked like a company under pressure: a five-day office mandate paired with voluntary buyouts, a mandate to make 30 films a year, a reported $1 billion Elon Musk stake that Puck says is causing friction inside Warner Bros., and a review of whether to keep FreeWheel as its ad server.
The tension. Netflix is being asked to prove the ad tier can carry a slowing business while the engagement evidence goes the other way. Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw reports customers opening the app on fewer days per month than two years ago; The Ankler counts Netflix’s share of Nielsen’s weekly originals chart down from 80% of titles in 2021 to 51%; Nobody Wants This opened its third season to 6.2 million views against 10.3 million for its first. Reed Hastings says the answer to YouTube is more and better shows, while YouTube takes a record 15.8% of US TV usage, more than twice Netflix’s share, and Instagram, Disney, Tubi and Amazon chase it into long creator video. Apple TV is running the opposite bet, with 18% of its catalog unscripted against Netflix’s 25% and HBO Max’s 72%. Sports is where the money still behaves: Thursday Night Football averages 17.7 million viewers on Prime Video through Week 7, up 12%, with advertisers up 6%, while automakers pull out of prime time for streaming and regional spots.
Who’s moving. Netflix, cutting its 2026 ad forecast to $2.7 billion. Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw, on fewer qualified play days. Reed Hastings, on out-creating YouTube rather than copying it. Skydance’s David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz, on a five-day office and voluntary buyouts. Elon Musk, with a reported $1 billion stake. Paramount TV Studios, with three of Nielsen’s top four streaming slots in September. Comcast’s Michael Cavanagh, making deeper Peacock-YouTube bundling a priority. Amazon, at 17.7 million Thursday Night Football viewers. Apple TV, holding to scripted. Automakers, leaving prime time for streaming and local deals. Disney+, taking Channel 4’s linear feed in the UK and Ireland in early 2027. TVREV’s Tim Hanlon, on affiliates facing a 6% decline once the political money ends.
What the desk is watching. Whether the $2.7 billion forecast holds once the Pixel and The Trade Desk are live, and whether Skydance keeps FreeWheel or hands its streaming ad tech to Google.
TVREV roundup: CNN slips to third in cable news prime time since Sept 1
TVREV’s Jason Damata rounds up the outlet’s election-week coverage, citing iSpot data showing CNN has fallen to a distant third in cable news prime time audience since September 1.
Parks Associates counts 275 SVoD services now live in the US
Advanced Television reports that Parks Associates’ Streaming Video Tracker now counts 275 SVoD services, 141 AVoD services and 60 FAST platforms in the US market.
Why Netflix can’t out-YouTube YouTube
Puck’s Julia Alexander reports that Nielsen’s Gauge found YouTube took 15.8% of U.S.
Bajaria, Lin, Abdy among Hollywood execs with nowhere big to land
The Ankler’s Elaine Low reports that ousted studio chiefs Bela Bajaria, Dan Lin, Cindy Holland, Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca face a job market with almost no top-tier openings left.
Roku Q3 revenue jumps 24% as M&E ad spend hits 4-year high
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that Roku posted Q3 revenue of $1.50 billion, up 24%, with net income of $183 million, more than seven times the year-prior quarter.
Fox books $350M in political ads, with Tubi grabbing $50M of it
AdExchanger’s Allison Schiff reports Fox’s fiscal Q1 2027 earnings call sidestepped Roku questions but detailed Tubi’s 35% revenue growth and $350 million in cycle-wide political ad bookings, roughly $50 million of which went to Tubi.
Newsom seeks $1B-plus California film and TV tax credit
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that Gavin Newsom is proposing to expand California’s film and TV tax credit from $750 million to at least $1 billion, adding above-the-line coverage and extending the program through 2040.
Lachlan Murdoch cites ‘viewer fatigue’ as Fox News ratings slide
Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports that Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch told investors he sees “viewer fatigue” at Fox News, even as the channel still dominates its cable-news competitors.
Fox CEO chalks up Fox News ratings slide to viewer fatigue, not defections
TheWrap’s Kayla Cobb reports that Fox Corp posted first-quarter revenue of $4.57 billion, up 22% year-over-year, as CEO Lachlan Murdoch attributed Fox News’s 27% total-day viewer drop to fatigue rather than audience loss to CNN or MS NOW.
Streaming video overtakes search in local ad spending, Borrell finds
TheDesk.net’s Matthew Keys reports that Borrell Associates now projects streaming video will surpass search engine marketing as the top local ad spending category, ending a 13-year run for search.
Meta tests 90-minute Instagram videos as DTC brands pivot ad budgets to CTV
AdExchanger reports that Meta is testing long-form Instagram videos up to 90 minutes as DTC brands shift ad spend toward CTV.
Roku posts 24% revenue jump as Fox merger clears global regulatory hurdles
Deadline’s Dade Hayes reports Roku’s Q3 revenue surged 24% to $1.5 billion, beating Wall Street, as its $22 billion Fox merger cleared all non-U.S. regulatory hurdles and won shareholder approval, with DOJ antitrust review still pending.
Netflix taps ex-Google exec Kantak to run ads platform
Axios’s Sara Fischer reports that Netflix has hired former Google executive Darshan Kantak as vice president of its ads platform, reporting to advertising president Amy Reinhard.
CTV overtakes cable in political ad spend for first midterm ever
Adweek’s Kendra Barnett reports political advertisers have spent $11.4 billion in the 2026 midterms cycle, up 28% from 2022, per AdImpact data.
Skydance’s $80 billion debt dwarfs its merger savings math
TheWrap’s Lucas Manfredi reports that Skydance faces nearly $80 billion in net debt after closing its Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, with a debt-to-EBITDA ratio Fitch pegs at 7.8 times, well above the 2-to-3 times standard for media companies.
Siloed linear and digital teams are stalling TV convergence, exec says
VideoWeek’s Dan Meier reports that Virtual Minds advisor Hossein Houssaini says broadcasters run separate linear and digital teams, compensated on separate targets, which pits them against each other instead of building one converged ad market.
Fox ad revenue jumps 47% on World Cup, political spend, Tubi growth
Deadline’s Jill Goldsmith reports that Fox Corp. revenue rose 22% to $4.57 billion last quarter, beating expectations as a 47% ad sales surge from the FIFA Men’s World Cup, political advertising, and Tubi’s digital growth drove gains, while distribution revenue climbed 9%.
MediaPost: low-budget creator films are outperforming big-studio tentpoles
MediaPost’s Wayne Friedman reports that LightShed’s Richard Greenfield expects AI to eventually produce a hit show or film, but cites creator-driven movies like “Obsession” and “Backrooms” already beating $100 million-plus franchise films on tiny budgets.
Newsom proposes raising California film tax credit to $1 billion
The Hollywood Reporter’s Erik Hayden reports that Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing to raise California’s annual film and TV tax credit from $750 million to $1 billion.
Instagram readies full rollout of long-form TV feature
TVREV’s Alan Wolk reports Instagram plans to fully roll out “Features,” a long-form horizontal video format supporting up to 90 minutes, tested in Brazil and built for TV-set viewing, letting creators link up to eight Reels as promos.
Traditional TV still claims two-thirds of sports viewing, Inscape finds
The Measure is reporting that Inscape data shows cable, satellite and over-the-air TV captured two thirds of sports viewing time in Q2, even without football in the mix.
Rushfield floats contenders to fix Netflix’s struggling film division
The Ankler reports that Richard Rushfield, on the Ankler Agenda podcast with Elaine Low and Sean McNulty, named candidates to lead Netflix Film after Dan Lin’s exit after two years.
Puck: Musk’s X stake raises throttling fears for Netflix
Puck’s Eriq Gardner reports that Elon Musk’s growing influence over internet infrastructure and platforms raises a hypothetical: what happens if he decides to throttle Netflix traffic or access, given his track record of using leverage against rivals and critics.
Starz narrows net loss to $34.8M, beats Wall Street Q3 targets
Variety’s Jennifer Maas reports that Starz beat Wall Street’s third-quarter estimates, narrowing its net loss to $34.8 million from $52.6 million a year earlier.
‘Tulsa King’ ends Netflix’s four-week reign atop Samba streaming chart
TheWrap reports that Paramount+‘s “Tulsa King” topped Samba’s weekly chart, breaking a four-week Netflix streak. Netflix still holds five of the Top 10 slots, including “From,” whose back catalog just landed on the service ahead of its final season.