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.
Wall Street sees debt bomb ticking under Paramount Skydance deal
The Ankler’s Claire Atkinson reports that as Skydance’s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery closes Tuesday, analysts warn the combined company’s $80 billion debt load leaves no room for error against declining cable and a maturing streaming market.
Ellison names Skydance’s top executives ahead of Tuesday deal close
The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin reports David Ellison named the executives who will run Skydance when Paramount’s Warner Bros. Discovery deal closes Tuesday, with Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO and Casey Bloys over streaming, including Paramount+ and Pluto.
Skydance officially launches, merging Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery
TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman reports Skydance launches this week as a public company (SKYD), merging Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery under CEO David Ellison, who must cut $6 billion in costs while carrying $80 billion in debt.
Dungey set to oversee Paramount’s cable networks post-merger
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva reports that Channing Dungey is poised to add Paramount’s cable portfolio, including MTV, Nickelodeon and BET, to her existing WBD cable duties.
Tubi adds 800 Just For Laughs titles in Canada
Deadline’s Jesse Whittock reports that Tubi struck a deal adding 800 Just For Laughs comedy specials and episodes to its Canadian feed.
goTom’s AI ad sales platform now runs Zattoo’s entire CTV operation
ExchangeWire reports that Zattoo now runs its full ad sales operation on goTom’s AI-native platform, which unifies CRM, order management and billing from first quote to invoice, speeding up bookings like dynamic ad insertion.
TVREV’s Damata: media fragmentation is driving a re-bundling wave
TVREV’s Jason Damata is reporting that Walmart-VIZIO, Fox-Roku, Skydance’s Paramount-Warner merger and cross-platform tools like iSpot all mark attempts to re-bundle a fragmented media landscape.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will rebrand as Skydance
TechCrunch’s Lauren Forristal reports that Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will operate under the Skydance name once their roughly $110 billion merger closes October 6, combining Paramount+, HBO Max, CBS, CNN, MTV, and other networks.
Disney licenses Ice Age, Percy Jackson, Will Trent to Netflix
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports that Disney Entertainment has struck a new licensing deal sending library and current titles to Netflix, including all five “Ice Age” films, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “Will Trent,” “Felicity” and several Disney and Pixar films.
De Luca and Abdy exit as WarnerMount’s Paramount merger looms
Puck’s Matthew Belloni reports that Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy won’t survive Warner Bros.’ merger with Paramount, after running the film division through a big-swing era of artistic highs and a punishing 2026 box office, including the flop Digger.
VideoWeek names European Video Awards 2026 winners
VideoWeek’s Tim Cross-Kovoor reports that the fifth European Video Awards, held in London, handed top honors to Wavemaker for Best Video Campaign and Dailymotion Advertising’s RAY platform for Best Video Ad Tech Innovation.
‘Celebrity Traitors’ season 2 opener draws record 8.9M UK viewers
Deadline’s Max Goldbart reports that the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors season-two premiere drew 8.9 million viewers, peaking above 9 million, the biggest opening episode across both celebrity and civilian Traitors versions.
Universal’s Langley: longer windows aim to undo couch-watching habit
TheWrap’s Jeremy Fuster reports that NBCUniversal chairman Donna Langley told Bloomberg Screentime the studio is reversing its 17-day PVOD window, moving to a 45-day theatrical minimum to rebuild moviegoing habits before streaming.
‘Big Brother’ renewed through Season 30 as Devens wins $750K
TheWrap’s JD Knapp and Jose Alejandro Bastidas report that Rick Devens won “Big Brother” Season 28’s $750,000 prize in a 6-1 jury vote over Taylor Brown, who took home $75,000 as runner-up.
NBCUniversal ad chief: Peacock-YouTube bundle unifies SNL ad sales
TheWrap’s Jose Alejandro Bastidas reports that NBCUniversal advertising chairman Mark Marshall discussed the Comcast spinoff and a new Peacock-YouTube bundle launching in early 2027.
Banks finish $52 billion debt sale for Paramount-WB merger
TheWrap’s Lucas Manfredi reports Wall Street banks closed a roughly fifty-two billion dollar debt sale funding the one hundred ten billion dollar Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, selling investment-grade debt, junk bonds and loans in just a week despite investor paper losses.
Vodafone TV launches in UK, bundling Netflix, HBO Max and Freely
Advanced Television’s Nik Roseveare reports that Vodafone TV has gone live in the UK, combining Netflix, HBO Max and Freely with over 150 live channels, 300-plus games and music apps, available to customers on Vodafone mobile or broadband plans.
Private capital muscles into Hollywood film financing
CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan reports that private investors like Camelback Productions, Silver Lake and Blackstone are funding independent films, moving faster than studios and backing projects traditional systems would reject.
Ellison clears final hurdle as Paramount-Warner Bros. deal set to close
Variety’s Todd Spangler reports the $111 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, renamed Skydance Corp., closes Oct. 6 after a judge approved a settlement with state attorneys general, ending a year-long pursuit by David Ellison.
Skydance signals Paramount+, HBO Max will bundle, not merge
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva reports that Skydance’s launch video kept both Paramount+ and HBO Max logos among its key brands, reinforcing hints from HBO Max’s Casey Bloys that the streamers will bundle rather than fully integrate.
Docs market faces ‘Darwinian’ collapse as algorithm, White House squeeze supply
The Ankler’s Alison Brower rounds up reporting from Addie Morfoot, in which Sheila Nevins, Dawn Porter and Josh Braun describe documentary distribution turning brutally selective.
Samsung, Disney and YouTube turn ambient ‘zone-out’ TV into a real ad business
The Ankler’s David Eckstein reports that Samsung will launch Fireside Interactive, a customizable fireplace channel, as ambient programming becomes a $4 billion-plus global market.
Disney+‘s subscriber terms open the door to ads on ad-free tiers
The Media Leader’s Charli West reports that Disney+‘s updated Subscriber Agreement broadens language allowing promotional content, sponsorships and ads across Standard and Premium plans, though the company says viewing experience hasn’t changed yet.
Antenna: NFL drove 60% jump in streamer signups this fall
TheWrap’s Loree Seitz reports that Antenna president Rameez Tase told TheGrill conference the 2025 NFL season drove a 60% rise in daily streaming signups over the offseason, pushing streamers to launch new shows during football’s run.
Ellison names Kreiz co-CEO at Paramount, hands content control to Bloys
The Ankler reports that David Ellison is installing former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz as surprise co-CEO of the new Paramount, overseeing day-to-day management and integration as the Warner Bros. deal closes.