Streaming
State of Play
Revised Sep 18, 2026The moment. Bundling came back in one week. Amazon launched a five-service Prime Video bundle of AMC+, BritBox, MGM+, PBS Masterpiece and Starz at $29.99 a month. Roku opened 30 bundle combinations through its Premium Subscriptions storefront at savings of up to 30% against buying each service alone. JustWatch, which spent a decade telling people where to watch things, becomes a service itself in October with JustWatch TV. Netflix, Amazon and YouTube founded the Streaming Access and Choice Alliance, a Washington lobbying group run by TechNet, under bipartisan criticism over the cost and complexity of watching sports. Digiday charted every major price change since 2019: Netflix’s ad-free tier rose from $10.99 to $19.99, Disney+ from $6.99 to $18.99.
The tension. The bundle is being rebuilt by the companies that sold unbundling, and the arithmetic that made unbundling attractive has closed. Cable’s share of US TV viewing fell to 21.2% in January 2026 from 35.6% in January 2021 while streaming climbed to 47% from 28.9% — and on the way, Peacock’s ad tier went from $7.99 to $10.99 and the Disney+/Hulu/HBO Max bundle from $16.99 to $20. Ad minutes per hour on the top nine premium streamers rose 18% between January and August. The customer who cut the cord to pay less is being sold a package again, at a price that has been climbing for seven years.
Who’s moving. Amazon, on the five-service bundle, and outspending Netflix and YouTube combined on sports rights. Roku, on 30 storefront bundles. JustWatch, turning a guide into an AVOD service. Netflix, Amazon and YouTube, jointly, in Washington. Ampere Analysis and Guggenheim Securities, counting the ad loads. Mediobanca, whose Media and Entertainment Report put the top 25 global operators at 362.8 billion euros in 2025 turnover, up 2.8%, with streaming up 13.4% to 22.2% of revenues. Comcast and Paramount Skydance, weighing a wind-down of SkyShowtime. Channel 4, cutting around 340 roles, 28% of its workforce. Sony, pitching PS5 FAST channels on 40 to 50 million engaged users. Byron Allen’s Local Now, adding 111 Gray Media stations.
What the desk is watching. Whether a rebuilt bundle slows churn or just raises the price of leaving, and whether the DC alliance is about sports costs or about getting ahead of the regulation that follows them.
IBC 2026 preview: AI dubbing and FAST bloat top the fragmentation agenda
Ahead of IBC 2026, TVREV’s Alan Wolk argues Europe’s 42-language market makes fragmentation worse than in the US, pushing AI dubbing that preserves an actor’s original voice and accent to the top of the agenda.
FAST’s data gap is a measurement problem, not a fraud problem
An AdExchanger opinion piece argues FAST viewing is real and growing, but platforms withhold audience data from channel operators and buyers. Revenue per viewing hour has fallen from 18 cents to eight cents as CPMs near single digits.
GTA VI preview drove 100,000 Netflix sign-ups in six hours
A six-hour exclusive window for Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look drove more than 100,000 US Netflix sign-ups on August 27th, per Ampere Analysis.
World Cup and streaming push TV usage up in Nielsen’s usually slow July
Nielsen’s July Gauge shows total TV usage rose 2.2% versus a typical summer decline, as the World Cup final and Peacock’s Love Island USA drove streaming to 49.0% of TV and YouTube to a record 14.2%.
Amazon’s Reacher tops streaming chart for fourth straight week
Prime Video’s “Reacher” Season 4 held No. 1 on the Samba Weekly Wrap Report for a fourth consecutive week, fending off Netflix’s “The Whisper Man” and HBO Max’s “Lanterns.”
Netflix to publicly report box office grosses for upcoming theatrical slate
Netflix will begin reporting grosses for six upcoming theatrical releases, including Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew and The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.
CNN’s demo ratings buck August slump as rivals slide
Fox News and MS NOW posted total-viewer and demo declines in August, but CNN grew in the Adults 25-54 demo during primetime and total day. CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip led the network’s demo gains.
Telly opens home screen ads to programmatic buying, pushes for standards
Telly, the startup that gives away free smart TVs in exchange for data and ad exposure, is making its second-screen home ads available for programmatic buying via Magnite’s SpringServe, with demand from The Trade Desk and Teads.
Survey: Roku remains the most popular streaming platform
A new survey finds Roku holds its position as the most popular streaming platform among consumers. The finding comes as competition among streaming device and smart TV operating system makers continues to intensify.
Gracenote adds Sports MCP server, entertainment SLM to AI roadmap
Nielsen’s Gracenote unveiled the next phase of its AI product roadmap, adding a Sports MCP Server, an entertainment-focused small language model and task-oriented agents alongside its existing Video MCP Server.
Netflix still drives most streaming bingeing, Luminate finds
Luminate Intelligence found 62% of streaming releases through H1 2026 were full-season bingeable drops, down from 64% the prior two years. Strip out Netflix, and non-Netflix bingeing capability falls further, to 38% from 43% two years earlier.
Hallmark’s NFL-team movies pull sponsors and ratings gold with Bears entry
Hallmark Channel’s third NFL-team holiday movie, Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story, follows Chiefs and Bills editions that ranked as the top and No. 10 most-watched cable movies of 2024 and 2025.
NFL ad revenue set to hit $6.3 billion this season, up 8%
Guideline projects NFL ad revenue will climb 8% to $6.3 billion this season, building on last year’s 7% jump to a record $5.9 billion.
Macron summit draws Hollywood, but its top brass stayed quiet
Macron convened Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Dana Walden and NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley at France’s first Lumière Summit on AI and cinema’s future, but the studio chiefs mostly stayed silent while Sony’s Tom Rothman and George Clooney spoke bluntly.
Ankler’s final Emmys picks: Widow’s Bay dominant, limited series wide open
Widow’s Bay led all programs with eight wins across the first two Emmy nights, and Apple topped all networks, before Monday’s main broadcast even begins.
Ankler: robotics giants could one day own the leagues they now rent
The Ankler’s Erik Barmack ties Beijing’s humanoid Robot Games to sports rights economics: the NFL, NBA and global streamers pay billions yearly for scarce athletes, while Amazon, Google and Apple already build the robotics that could one day replace them.
‘The Whisper Man’ climbs to No. 1 on Netflix with 33.4 million views
The Adam Scott thriller grew from 23.2 million debut views to 33.4 million in its second week, passing the GTA VI teaser to top Netflix’s movie chart for the week of Aug. 31.
Niche streaming services grew subscribers 14% in first half of 2026
Antenna data shows specialty streamers like AMC+, BritBox and Crunchyroll reached 42 million collective subscribers in the first six months of 2026, up 14% year over year.
Sky bundle deal drives Disney+ ad tier reach up nearly 30%
Disney+‘s UK household reach grew by around 1.1 million between Q1 and Q2, with over 700,000 households picking the ad-supported tier, per Barb data, largely credited to a Sky bundling partnership.
Hollywood chiefs turn out for Macron’s Lumière Summit, but stay quiet
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Dana Walden, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and other top Hollywood executives attended French President Emmanuel Macron’s Lumière Summit on cinema’s future amid AI and streaming disruption.
Meta’s teen-safety settlement may not cover YouTube, TikTok on TV
Meta’s settlement with state attorneys general sets time limits and overnight bans for teens on Facebook and Instagram’s web and app versions, but the language does not appear to expressly cover smart TV interfaces.
Streaming ad loads jump 18% this year as streamers chase margin
Ad minutes per hour on top US streamers rose 18% from January to August, according to Ampere Analysis data shared with Business Insider.
Cord-cutters are ditching boxes, not cable TV itself
Digiday’s Future of TV Briefing points to data showing people are dropping cable boxes in favor of streaming apps, but many still pay for the same bundled cable channels through virtual pay-TV services.
MS NOW launches DTC streaming membership at $7.99 a month
MS NOW, the rebranded MSNBC, launches a direct-to-consumer membership Wednesday priced at $7.99 monthly or $79.99 yearly, with an introductory $39.99 annual rate through September 30. Subscribers get 24/7 streaming plus talent Q&As.
DOJ widens antitrust probe into Fox’s $22 billion Roku acquisition
The Justice Department plans a “second request” for more data from Fox and Roku, people familiar said, signaling skepticism about a deal merging Fox’s content with Roku’s dominant connected-TV operating system.