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.
Xbox shops bulk Hollywood rights deal worth $300 million-plus
Microsoft’s Xbox division is quietly pitching Hollywood on a package of more than a dozen game franchises, including Halo, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, and Diablo, for a single studio or streamer.
Netflix crashed showing a game trailer, and Take-Two shares jumped
Netflix aired an extended GTA 6 preview Thursday, a rare move for the streamer, and viewers hit error messages from overload; Twitch saw similar bandwidth issues.
Dolly Parton tribute specials give broadcast TV a rare summer ratings win
ABC’s 20/20 tribute to Dolly Parton drew 4.05 million live-plus-same-day viewers, its best non-sports 10 p.m. telecast in three months, while CBS’s competing special pulled 2.1 million the same night.
Apptopia data: Netflix losing YouTube users even as it courts YouTube creators
Netflix is spending heavily to sign top YouTube creators, but new Apptopia mobile data shows the reach imbalance between the two has flipped since January.
Why YouTube covets an Emmy so badly
Simon Owens’s newsletter previews a paid piece asking why YouTube is chasing Emmy recognition, alongside a companion discussion on whether BuzzFeed and HuffPost’s scale-first model was ever viable.
Apple TV raises US price to $15 a month, ups Apple One to $22
Apple TV’s US monthly price rises $2 to $15, with Apple One climbing to $22 a month, timed just before Ted Lasso’s October 7 finale caps its highest-profile original series run.
Apple TV buys BBC comedy hit Small Prophets worldwide
Apple TV acquired worldwide rights to Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets from Sphere Abacus, launching October 7 outside the UK. The BBC Two series drew the best 28-day comedy ratings since 2022 and holds a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Apple TV raises monthly price to $14.99, second hike in a year
Apple TV’s monthly price rises to $14.99 from $12.99, with the annual plan up to $119 from $99, effective August 28 for new and existing U.S. subscribers.
The case against Netflix becoming an everything app
Netflix has discussed reselling Peacock and Fox One inside its app, per the New York Times, echoing Amazon’s and Roku’s channel-store model. It’s the second such report in a month, following the Wall Street Journal’s account of bundle talks.
Fox Sports jumps to No. 2 on YouTube as World Cup highlights drive views
Fox Sports’ YouTube channel rose from No. 8 in June to No. 2 in July, drawing 35.6 million unique U.S. viewers, a 46% month-over-month increase driven by Men’s FIFA World Cup highlights.
DAZN buys EverPass, gains Sunday Ticket commercial streaming rights
DAZN acquired EverPass, rebranding it DAZN for Business and picking up exclusive commercial streaming rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, plus NFL, RedBird and TKO as minority shareholders.
Lanterns opens at No. 2 as Reacher holds streaming’s top spot
HBO Max’s DC Universe series “Lanterns” debuts at No. 2 on Samba’s weekly chart, unable to unseat Amazon’s “Reacher,” which holds the top spot for a second straight week during its fourth season.
Study: Americans now watch more YouTube than live TV
A new study finds American viewers spend more time watching YouTube than they do watching live television, a shift that underscores streaming’s growing dominance over traditional broadcast viewing habits nationwide. The report frames YouTube as a primary screen destination.
Studios shift summer movie ad dollars from broadcast to CTV
Connected TV ad impressions for movies rose 16% this summer to 17.7 billion, per AdImpact, while broadcast movie spots fell 50% to 93,600 airings.
Why advertisers still snub YouTube despite its TV-sized reach
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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.