Streaming 2.0 As Netflix returns to form, others get a reality check

It's official: this year has marked the end of the era of the winner-takes-all battle for global streaming supremacy.

- Mark Sweney

After a dire 2022, when investors turned on the profligate spending and seemingly endlessly loss-making strategies employed by the global giants as a result of the abrupt and dramatic post-pandemic slowdown in subscriber growth, this year has been about building streaming model 2.0.

For some, such as Disney and Warner Bros Discovery, which runs Max and Discovery+, it has been a harsh reality check. Others, notably Netflix, have seen a return to form at the top of the market.

New initiatives - including a global crackdown on password sharing and the introduction of a cheaper ad-supported tier to appeal to increasingly cost-conscious consumers amid the cost of living crisis - have reignited subscriber growth at the world's biggest streaming service.

From a UK perspective, Netflix is estimated to have more than doubled its number of new subscribers this year, from 540,000 in 2022 to more than 1.1 million, according to Ampere Analysis.

Meanwhile, Disney+ has seen new subscribers almost halve, from 1.35 million to 700,000, and Amazon's Prime Video will see new user growth drop from 262,000 to 78,000 when estimates are finalized in the new year.

"There is Netflix and then there is sort of everyone else," says Tom Harrington, head of television at Enders Analysis. "Everyone except Netflix is making losses quarter by quarter. While Netflix hasn't of course yet balanced its billions in losses it is now making profits and will catch that up pretty quickly."