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.
Why advertisers still snub YouTube despite its TV-sized reach
TVREV’s John Cassillo reports that Tubular Labs data shows sports made up just 6% of U.S. YouTube views in 2026, even with the World Cup and Winter Olympics airing, and nearly two-thirds of those sports videos ran under one minute long.
Netflix in talks with Fox, NBC to carry Fox One and Peacock
Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner reports that the NYT reports Netflix executives have discussed carrying Peacock and Fox One on Netflix with NBCUniversal and Fox — no deal imminent. It’s a reversal for a streamer that once dismissed bundling as unnecessary.
Bonta forces Ellison’s hand on which cable nets to sell or sink
The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg reports that California AG Rob Bonta says any settlement requires “structural remedies”: Ellison cannot keep all 50 cable networks the WBD deal would hand him — some must be sold.
Small theaters survived a blockbuster summer, but the margins still don’t work
The Ankler revisits the small-town exhibitors it profiled during last fall’s worst domestic October since 1997. A stacked summer filled seats, but holdover mandates and 65% studio splits still eat the good weeks.
Netflix, Stella Artois turn ‘The Gentlemen’ into a branded pub takeover
Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports that Netflix and AB InBev are turning a London pub into a live “The Gentlemen” set for three days — the first execution of the multi-year Stella Artois deal signed last September.
The math problem hiding inside the Paramount-WBD settlement talk
The Hollywood Reporter’s Joseph M. Singer reports that Unions, exhibitors and politicians all want a negotiated Paramount-WBD settlement. A THR analysis flags the contradiction: the financing needs more than $6 billion in synergies, and the protections everyone wants would block those same savings.
Ben Thompson: Netflix may start selling rival streaming services
Stratechery’s Ben Thompson reports Netflix is weighing selling rival streaming services through its own platform, recasting itself as an aggregator. Smart move, he says — and a retreat from what Netflix set out to be.
YouTube, Netflix and Disney fight the creator war on three fronts
TVREV’s Emanuele Landi reports that YouTube doubled Partner Program thresholds and is paying top creators to reject Netflix deals, while Netflix keeps signing non-exclusive creator packages and Disney opens its IP to TikTok. All three are chasing the retention scroll delivers over binge-watching.
Apple Music, Spotify add AI labels as synthetic tracks flop with listeners
The Ankler’s Erik Barmack reports that Apple Music now requires labels on AI-generated tracks; Spotify will tag AI artists and exclude them from editorial and algorithmic picks. AI tracks are a third of Apple uploads but under 0.5% of listening.
Wall Street recasts Netflix as a legacy stock after weak guidance
The Ankler’s Claire Atkinson reports that Netflix stock is down 40% from its all-time high after weak Q3 guidance and thin recent hits. Investors now see it as a maturing “value stock,” not a high-growth tech company, per LightShed’s Rich Greenfield.
Netflix could add music videos to compete with YouTube on watch time
A newsletter floats Netflix licensing music videos, since video podcasts are only 6% of YouTube watch time versus 33% for music videos. It suggests an ad-supported tier plus a premium add-on, mirroring how YouTube and Spotify monetize music and audiobooks.
KERV.ai takes interactive CTV ads with LG global beyond the US
Advanced Television reports that KERV.ai is expanding its US partnership with LG Ad Solutions into Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The deal brings KERV.ai’s interactive, commerce-enabled ad tech to LG’s streaming inventory in those markets.
Ex-Scripps exec defends “reverse broadcasting” pivot for local news
Media Inno’s Tom Sly discusses Scripps’ Tallahassee experiment, dubbed “reverse broadcasting,” which treats streaming and mobile as the primary news feed and linear broadcasts as secondary. He argues the shift is necessary, not optional, despite newsroom backlash.
Wurl CEO: FAST’s discovery problem is design, not content glut
TVREV’s Alan Wolk reports that Wurl CEO Dave Bernath argues FAST’s economics favor platforms over channel operators, unlike cable, and that discovery — not content oversupply — remains the format’s core weakness. He also flags measurement as one of CTV’s biggest unresolved gaps.
Netflix confirms ‘Black Mirror’ Season 8, renews ‘Legends’ and Ramsay reality show
Variety’s K.J. Yossman reports that Netflix confirmed “Black Mirror” Season 8 is shooting, with Charlie Brooker writing and exec producing. The streamer also renewed “Legends” and “Being Gordon Ramsay” for new seasons, alongside a third season of “The Gentlemen.”
Netflix weighs letting Peacock, Fox One into its app
The Verge’s Emma Roth reports that Netflix executives discussed hosting Peacock and Fox One within its app, per the New York Times, though no deal is imminent. It follows Netflix’s live TF1 integration in France, which Peters called “promising” on Netflix’s July earnings call.
State AG suit against Paramount-WBD chills wider media M&A
CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo reports that Paramount’s $110B WBD deal is on hold until mid-2027 amid a state attorneys general antitrust suit, even after clearing federal and global regulators. Executives now warn the state-level threat could stall other pending media combinations.
Netflix ads chief exits as leadership shakeup hits ad unit
Business Insider’s Lucia Moses reports that Netflix advertising president Amy Reinhard has parted ways with Jon Whitticom, a key exec who helped build the streamer’s ad business. Ads product exec Marc Heneghan takes over on an interim basis during the search for a replacement.
TikTok’s live boxing debut draws 3.4M views, dwarfed by Netflix’s Serrano numbers
Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner reports that OMG. TikTok LIVE streamed Amanda Serrano’s title defense as its first world title fight, pulling 3.4 million views. That’s far below the 50 million views Netflix claimed for her 2024 bout, though the two platforms measure audiences differently.
Streamers widen ad-tier discount as price hikes cool
StreamTV Insider reports that Ampere Analysis finds Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video have slowed average price hikes from 24% to 14% over three years, signaling limits on consumer willingness to pay.
EMarketer: global subscription OTT growth is stalling in mature markets
EMarketer’s H2 2026 forecast finds paid streaming has saturated mature economies, with future viewer growth now dependent on Asia-Pacific and other emerging markets. Netflix leads globally, while local players like JioHotstar hold their own turf.
Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime ease off price hikes as ad tiers grow
Advanced Television reports that Ampere Analysis finds average streaming price rises fell from 24% of prior price in 2023/24 to 14% in 2025/26. Ad-free tiers still see the steepest increases, widening the gap versus ad-supported plans.
California AG wants Paramount to divest cable channels to settle merger suit
Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner reports that California AG Rob Bonta will ask Paramount CEO David Ellison to divest cable channels and keep the studio separate from Warner Bros. as conditions to settle the 12-state antitrust suit over the $110B WBD deal.
GTA VI’s gameplay trailer will premiere on Netflix before YouTube
The Verge’s Andrew Webster reports that Rockstar will debut a GTA VI gameplay trailer exclusively on Netflix, six hours ahead of YouTube. Despite repeated leaks, delays and labor accusations, hype for the game keeps growing, giving Rockstar unusual marketing leverage.
Netflix, Disney+, Amazon shrink price hike sizes as subscribers hit limits
Deadline’s Jesse Whittock reports that Ampere Analysis finds average streaming price increases fell from 24% in 2023/24 to 14% in 2025/26. Ad-free tiers still rise faster than ad-supported ones, widening the price gap as advertising becomes a bigger revenue driver.