At least seven streaming platforms have announced mergers, acquisitions, or closures in the first half of 2026 alone, as the video streaming industry moves into a consolidation phase after a decade of expansion.

Paramount+ and Showtime completed their full integration into a single service in January 2026, removing the Showtime brand that had existed since 1976, according to a company press release from Paramount Global.

Discovery+ content was fully migrated into Max, the rebranded HBO Max platform, in late 2025, completing a consolidation that began with the Warner Bros. Discovery merger in 2022.

Why Consolidation Is Happening Now

The global streaming market added approximately 1.2 billion subscribers across all platforms between 2019 and 2023, a growth rate that executives and analysts described at the time as unsustainable.

Annual subscriber growth slowed to under 3 percent across major platforms in 2025, according to estimates from MoffettNathanson Research, as most households that wanted a streaming subscription already had one.

Content spending has remained high even as growth slowed. Netflix reported spending approximately $17 billion on content in 2024, according to its annual report filed with the SEC. Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+ each spent between $6 billion and $9 billion.

The combination of slowing growth and high fixed costs has made scale essential for survival. Platforms without large subscriber bases cannot justify the content budgets required to compete for premium programming.

Which Platforms Are Growing and Which Are Struggling

Netflix ended 2025 with approximately 310 million paid subscribers globally, according to the company’s fourth quarter earnings report, maintaining its position as the market leader by a substantial margin.

Disney+ reported approximately 155 million subscribers at the end of 2025 but faced ongoing pressure on profitability in its streaming division, with losses narrowing year over year but not yet turning to profit on a standalone basis.

Apple TV+ has not disclosed subscriber numbers but is estimated by analysts at Ampere Analysis to have between 25 and 40 million paid subscribers, making it a niche player despite Apple’s scale in hardware and services.

Regional platforms in markets including India, South Korea, and Southeast Asia have held stronger positions than their Western counterparts, partly due to local language content advantages that global platforms have struggled to replicate fully.

The Return of Bundling

Major platforms are responding to subscriber fatigue by offering discounted bundles that combine multiple services. Disney announced a bundle covering Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ in the United States starting at $16.99 per month in late 2024.

Apple has promoted bundles through its Apple One subscription, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and iCloud storage. The bundle strategy reduces churn by increasing the switching cost for subscribers.

Telecom companies including Comcast, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom have added streaming bundles to their mobile and broadband packages, giving platforms access to distribution without competing directly for sign-ups.

Industry analysts at Goldman Sachs estimated in a February 2026 note that bundled subscriptions now account for approximately 35 percent of all streaming revenue in the United States, up from under 10 percent in 2021.

Content Strategy Is Shifting

The era of releasing a dozen prestige dramas per quarter, which defined Netflix’s strategy between 2018 and 2022, is ending as platforms cut content budgets and focus on fewer, higher-impact projects.

Netflix reduced its number of original series releases by approximately 20 percent in 2024 compared to 2022, while keeping spending on high-profile projects including live sports, reality television, and event-style limited series.

Live sports rights have become a competitive battleground. Amazon Prime Video holds NFL Thursday Night Football rights in the United States. Apple TV+ has Major League Baseball games. Netflix acquired live rights to WWE Raw starting in January 2025.

Sports rights are seen as one of the few content categories that drives subscribers to sign up and prevents them from cancelling, since live events cannot easily be pirated or delayed. Our report on women’s football breaking attendance records in Europe explores how growing sports audiences are fueling broadcast rights competition across platforms.

What Consumers Should Expect

Fewer platform choices as consolidation continues, but potentially lower prices as services compete for subscribers through bundles and ad-supported tiers.

Ad-supported tiers have grown significantly. Netflix’s ad-supported plan, launched in late 2022, reached over 40 million subscribers globally by mid-2025, according to the company’s upfront advertising presentation.

Password sharing restrictions, which Netflix began enforcing in 2023 and other platforms followed, have increased the effective subscriber count but also raised average revenue per household as shared accounts were converted to individual paid plans.

The regulatory environment for digital platforms is also tightening. Companies operating streaming services in Europe should be aware of how the record data privacy fines in 2025 reflect broader scrutiny of how platforms collect and use subscriber data.

TrustPost will continue covering streaming industry developments, including platform launches, content deals, and subscriber data as the competitive landscape continues to evolve.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many streaming services are there globally?

Industry tracker Ampere Analysis counted approximately 1,500 streaming video services globally as of 2024, though the vast majority are small regional platforms. The number has declined from a peak of over 2,000 in 2022.

Is streaming profitable for the major platforms?

Netflix is consistently profitable on a streaming basis. Disney+ is approaching profitability. Most other major platforms are still reporting losses in their streaming divisions, though losses have narrowed as subscriber growth slowed and cost discipline increased.