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.
Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat to make vertical originals for microdrama platform aTwist
Hartbeat and aTwist will team on more than 20 original microseries for a dedicated Hartbeat destination on the platform. The slate also includes adaptations of Blake Karrington’s bestselling book series, produced with Upscale Productions.
ESPN’s app-exclusive content now lives inside YouTube TV
YouTube TV rolled out “ingestion” of app-exclusive ESPN content, letting subscribers access all live ESPN events and library shows like 30 for 30 directly in the channel guide.
Gracenote: 85% of viewers want a home-screen hub for sports schedules
Gracenote’s Home Screen Advantage study found 26% of viewers often can’t find games on TV, and 85% want their set’s first screen to show upcoming games and how-to-watch details.
Twitch’s engaged audience gives marketers more reason to invest in livestreaming
EMARKETER’s latest coverage frames Twitch as a platform where viewers stay deeply engaged, a quality that stands out to advertisers weighing where to spend limited livestreaming budgets.
Netflix inks day-and-date deal with YouTube travel star Drew Binsky
Netflix will stream a curated library of Binsky’s travel videos starting September 19, and going forward his new episodes will release day-and-date on Netflix alongside YouTube. Binsky has 7.3 million YouTube subscribers and 22 million followers across platforms.
DirecTV survey: out-of-home sports viewing rivals watching at home
DirecTV for Business polled 2,000 sports fans and found ballpark attendance edged out both home viewing and sports bars as the top choice, 31% versus 29% each.
Sports TV could revive the old “ad hoc network” model for live rights
TVREV traces the 1960s-70s “Love Network” and syndicators like TVS and Mizlou, who cleared local stations market by market for events lacking a permanent channel home. Gray Media, Scripps and TEGNA are already rebuilding similar station-based sports distribution today.
GTA VI preview tops Netflix’s global weekly chart
A 27-minute Grand Theft Auto VI preview drew 31.1 million views on Netflix over its debut weekend, ranking No. 1 on the English film list in 87 of 93 countries Netflix tracks.
Disney+ adds 1.1m UK homes as Sky ad-tier deal pays off
Barb’s Q2 2026 Establishment Survey shows Disney+ gained more than 1.1 million UK homes to reach 8.9 million, over 700,000 of them on its ad tier.
Google courts Hollywood studios for AI training rights on copyrighted IP
Google is pitching Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Universal on licensing deals to train AI models on copyrighted characters, reportedly offering around $40 million per character with potential ad-revenue sharing on outputs.
Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat locks 20-microseries slate with aTwist
Hartbeat will supply more than 20 original microseries to aTwist, the vertical-video platform launching this Thursday from veteran TV execs Jana Winograde, Susan Rovner and Lloyd Braun.
Streaming nears half of all US ad-supported TV viewing
Streaming made up 48.2 percent of ad-supported TV viewing time in the US during Q2 2026, per Nielsen’s Ad Supported Gauge.
Analyst: BBC, Netflix now chasing YouTube’s playbook as phones become the new TV
At Edinburgh TV Festival, YouTube’s Pedro Pina and BBC’s new DG both signaled convergence: YouTube called itself television while BBC floated an “iPlayer 2.0" with creator uploads and a public-service algorithm ahead of the license fee’s 2027 expiration.
Gracenote: 85% of sports fans want better TV navigation
Gracenote’s 2026 global sports fan report finds 26 percent often can’t identify which channel or service carries a specific event. Eighty-five percent want their TV home screen to show upcoming games and where-to-watch information for favorite teams and leagues.
YouTube leads CTV ad spend for fourth straight year, but M&A looms
YouTube topped Modern Retail’s Q1 2026 survey of ad-supported streaming placements for a fourth consecutive year. The report, based on 125 brand and agency professionals, warns the CTV landscape faces major shifts over the next 12 months.
Netflix, Disney+ eye free tiers as FAST goes mainstream
Sony launched a free ad-supported service on PS5, Paramount+ is testing free mobile content, and Disney’s Josh D’Amaro has floated a free Disney+ tier.
Parks Associates: live TV still sways streaming bundle choice
Parks Associates research finds live TV access remains a significant factor for consumers when picking a streaming bundle, even as on-demand and ad-supported tiers proliferate across the market.
Netflix licenses ‘Sex Lives of College Girls’ from Warner Bros.
Netflix added all three seasons of HBO Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls” via a non-exclusive licensing deal with Warner Bros. Television, joining Mindy Kaling’s Netflix original “Never Have I Ever.”
Sony launches FAST service Live TV on PS5, adding ad inventory
Sony launched Live TV on PS5, a free ad-supported streaming service with over 100 channels, drawing on content from Lionsgate, Fox, NBCU, Bloomberg, Spotify and A+E. It’s live in the US now, with Canada and other markets planned.
HBO Max to stream weekly filmed episodes of Howard Stern’s show
HBO Max struck a deal with Howard Stern’s production company and SiriusXM to release filmed episodes of “The Howard Stern Show” weekly, starting Sept. 17 worldwide, as his radio show scales back to one broadcast per week.
Howard Stern brings weekly filmed show to HBO Max
HBO Max will stream weekly filmed episodes of The Howard Stern Show starting September 17, adapted from his SiriusXM broadcast. The deal pairs HBO Max with SiriusXM and Stern’s own production company for global distribution.
Netflix’s GTA VI first look drove a 24% spike in app downloads
Sensor Tower found Netflix’s U.S. app downloads rose 24% the day it posted an extended GTA VI first look, with iOS downloads up 54% as the app jumped to 35th on the App Store’s free chart.
Netflix renews Shane Gillis’ ‘Tires’ for Season 4
Netflix has formally greenlighted a fourth season of Tires, part of its overall deal with Shane Gillis and John McKeever. Season 3 hit its highest-ever Global Top 10 ranking, reaching #5 the week of August 17.
Magnite sponsors CTV video series on data, TV OS and live sports
TVREV’s sponsored “Making Waves” series features Magnite’s Kristen Williams on data partnerships, Samsung Ads’ Youssef Ben-Youssef on the TV operating system’s expanding role, and Magnite’s Paige Bilins on programmatic buying in live sports.
Sony launches 100+ FAST channels on PS5 to sell ads against gamers
Sony Pictures Television unveiled “Live TV on PS5,” over 100 free ad-supported channels reachable through the console, launching first in the U.S. with Canada and Bravia TVs to follow. Publica and PubMatic will handle the connected-TV ad sales.