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.
Kafka: Skydance has no clear plan to fix Warner Bros.
The Verge’s Nilay Patel interviews Business Insider’s Peter Kafka on Decoder about Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which officially closed the day they spoke, with Kafka arguing David Ellison lacks a defined business strategy but has decades of his father’s money to keep trying.
Vurt bets vertical microdramas belong on TV, not just phones
The Verge’s Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that Vurt, an ad-supported microdrama platform with human-made (not AI) casts, has launched Apple TV and Android TV apps, growing from 10,000 to 675,000 users since its March launch.
Streamers’ kids content orders plunge as rivals multiply
Variety’s John Hopewell reports that Ampere Analysis’ Cyrine Amor told MipJunior that SVOD kids TV orders fell from 196 to 88 over four years, even as 2026’s 88 marks a 22% uptick from 2025’s low of 72.
Movistar Plus pushes into YA comedy and co-production at Mipcom
Variety’s John Hopewell reports that Movistar Plus is bringing new titles to Mipcom including “Many People Need to Die,” the series debut from YouTube comedian Victoria Martín, “Killing a Bear,” a co-production with Arte France, and “The Castle,” the TV debut of writer Isabel Peña.
Netflix touts Korean content’s tourism pull at Busan’s Creative Asia
Variety’s Lin Ying-Hsuan reports that Netflix’s Sung Q Lee cited internal research finding 67% of surveyed members internationally expressed interest in visiting South Korea, crediting Korean stories rather than scenery alone, at the opening masterclass of Busan’s Creative Asia program on Oct. 10.
Netflix says AI has touched 300 titles as director claims 40% budget cuts
Variety’s Naman Ramachandran reports that Netflix’s APAC production chief Lee Sung-gyun told a Busan Film Festival panel that AI has been used across roughly 300 Netflix titles, spanning previs, production design, editorial and VFX.
Netflix’s ‘Unabomber’ tops weekly streaming chart, passes ‘Ted Lasso’
TheWrap’s Florence Pugh reports that Netflix’s “Unabomber” rose two spots to claim the top of the Wrap Report’s weekly streaming chart, sourced from Samba’s panel of more than 3 million households balanced to the U.S. Census.
Skydance’s Channel 5 profit falls two-thirds amid streaming spend, ad slump
Deadline’s Jake Kanter reports that UK broadcaster 5, part of David Ellison’s Skydance group, posted a 64% drop in pre-tax profit to £11.93 million in 2025, down from £33.6 million.
Xbox launches TV/film unit XP, with ads as a core monetization play
AdExchanger reports that Xbox unveiled a new TV and film division called XP, led by Mojang’s Kayleen Walters, with CEO Asha Sharma telling staff that “formalizing” sponsorships and brand partnerships is a key investment area.
CNN’s digital pivot faces its first real test under Skydance
Puck’s Julia Alexander reports that CNN chiefs Mark Thompson and Alex MacCallum face pressure to prove their digital overhaul works, as Skydance carries $80 billion in debt and needs $6 billion in synergies after merging Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Skydance-WBD scale meets TV’s budget migration problem, M&W notes
Madison and Wall reports that the closed Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery deal creates scale that helps compete for video budgets and justifies ad-tech investment, but TV ad spend globally remains stagnant as Amazon and Walmart Connect push into video to chase the same marketers.
Streamers’ kids content orders plunge 55% since 2022, Ampere finds
Variety’s John Hopewell reports that Ampere Analysis’ Cyrine Amor told MipJunior that SVOD kids TV orders fell from 196 to 88 annually since 2022, as YouTube, AVOD and gaming fragment young audiences.
Skydance’s first week: HBO spending spree meets $80 billion debt alarm
The Ankler’s Alison Brower reports that Casey Bloys is opening HBO’s checkbook with a new deal even as David Ellison’s $80 billion debt spooks Wall Street, while new film chiefs Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein inherit an impossible movie math problem.
Pharma TV spend holds flat as streaming’s share hits 42% in Q3
eMarketer’s Beth Snyder Bulik reports that prescription drug TV ad spending stabilized at $1.99 billion in the third quarter, down from $2.52 billion in the first quarter, while streaming’s share rose to 42%, up from 32% in Q1, per iSpot.tv data.
Skydance TV splits leadership: Cheeks gets content, Perrette gets business ops
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva reports that Skydance TV will be co-chaired by Paramount’s George Cheeks, now Chief Content Officer, and WBD’s JB Perrette, who becomes Chief Business Officer spanning ad sales, distribution and content sales.
Wall Street bets against Skydance beating the media merger curse
TheWrap’s Jon Lafayette reports that Wall Street analysts remain skeptical of the newly closed Skydance-Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal, citing roughly $80 billion in debt and a history of failed media mergers, even as the company touts over $30 billion in planned content spending.
Survey: 73% of advertisers plan to boost live sports streaming spend
TVREV’s Blake Hebert reports that an Advertiser Perceptions survey with Premion found 73% of advertisers, and 79% of agencies, plan to invest in live sports streaming and CTV over the next six to 12 months.
Netflix readies layoffs affecting 5% of staff, Puck reports
Puck’s Matthew Belloni reports that Netflix is preparing a restructuring cutting about 5 percent of its roughly 17,000 employees, or around 850 jobs, with an announcement possible as early as next week. Netflix declined to comment to Puck on the plan.
Ellison picks Bloys over Holland to lead Skydance’s streaming operation
The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg reports that David Ellison chose Casey Bloys over Cindy Holland to run Skydance’s combined streaming business, a decision that left some Paramount employees in tears.
Skydance’s combined TV empire edges out YouTube in total viewing share
TheWrap’s Kayla Cobb reports that Skydance now owns nearly 190 shows, more than 70 cable channels and two major streamers after closing its Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery acquisitions.
Streaming ads set to pull in $2.5 billion this midterm cycle
Lowpass’s Janko Roettgers reports that political streaming ad spending is projected around $2.5 billion this midterm season, with another $1.4 billion going to other digital ads, per a 2025 AdImpact forecast.
Netflix eyes major layoffs amid stock slide
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva reports that Netflix is preparing a significant round of layoffs, with sources describing a big reduction and Puck pegging it at 5% of the workforce, though Netflix declined to comment and exact timing remains unclear.
UK broadcasters weigh Channel 4-UKTV merger with BBC backing
VideoWeek’s Tim Cross-Kovoor reports that the BBC and Channel 4 held preliminary government talks on merging operations, potentially combining Channel 4’s ad and streaming arms with BBC Studios-owned UKTV.
Belloni fields Hollywood’s top questions on the Skydance-Paramount-WBD merger
Puck’s Matthew Belloni reports that Skydance co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz have avoided specifics on combining Paramount and Warner Bros. operations, prompting him to answer the creative community’s most pressing questions about how the merged studio will actually function.
ITV’s AI ad tool lures 16 new-to-TV SMEs in first year
The Media Leader’s Jack Benjamin reports that ITV’s GenAI Ads Manager, built with Streamr.AI, drew 16 new-to-TV small businesses to buy campaigns in its debut year, with pause ads using AI-generated imagery proving more popular than 30-second spots.