A good portion of Netflix users once accessed the service without paying, according to analysts from MoffettNathanson. Since Netflix introduced “paid sharing” limits and monetization in 2023, however, conversions of borrowers into paying accounts have driven record net subscriber additions and double-digit revenue growth, per Netflix investor updates and U.S. market data showing record-high daily sign-ups during the crackdown from Antenna. This might have been a contributing factor to the company’s $26 billion drop in market value during an earlier phase of the streaming wars, but the recent evidence points to enforcement, ad tiers, and strong slates reversing that narrative amid killer competition and a losing battle for permanent exclusivity of top titles.
WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, HBO Max, and Disney’s Disney+, both intend to regain their original content to showcase on their own platforms. Netflix, too, has invested heavily in its original content to stake its own claim in the industry, but experts say the lack of cross-platform content sharing isn’t sustainable in the long term. In practice, the market has shifted toward ad-supported tiers, bundles, and password-sharing enforcement that monetize usage across ecosystems; Disney has also begun limiting account sharing with broader rollout planned per company disclosures, following Netflix’s results that show paid sharing to be revenue-accretive.
“There will not be a shortage of more companies trying to get into the streaming pie, but over time, there’s just no way they can all survive — it’s just virtually impossible,” said Jed Corenthal, chief marketing officer at Phenix, a real-time streaming solution.
With so many streaming subscriptions available, paying for every single one just to get the content you want seems like a hefty task — not only financially but also in terms of finding time. For users, the overwhelming amount of options is causing an aversion and impatience to sifting through countless apps to find exactly what they’re looking for. According to a Deloitte study, consumers report rising price sensitivity, subscription cycling, and difficulty finding content across fragmented platforms — key reasons streamers now lean on ad tiers, bundles, and sharing enforcement to stabilize growth.
People don’t really want to spend time deciding where to get their entertainment, let alone sink money into a service that only has a handful of shows that really pique their interest. It might be exhausting now, but it also has a ripple effect in terms of resorting to piracy — and innovation. Fragmentation and rising prices are associated with a rebound in certain piracy modalities and sustained illicit IPTV usage in major markets (Sandvine; EUIPO), which in turn pushes platforms to improve aggregation, discovery, and affordability.
Users Might Not Be the Only Ones Sharing
Using a family member’s login is a popular option for gaming the system, but it’s costing companies like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon hundreds of millions of dollars. And those companies will eventually have to compromise. In practice, many are moving from tolerance to monetization: Netflix’s paid-sharing rollout drove record net adds and double-digit revenue growth (investor letters), and Disney+ has begun limiting sharing with broader rollout planned (company update).
Speaking specifically about the upcoming Disney+, Valory said, “It doesn’t make sense from an economic to only distribute that content through that app.” Rather, he thinks these companies will need to find other ways to distribute their own content. “You can think of it as coopetition — yes, they’re competing with some of the other providers in the space, but they also need to, kind of, cooperate. And my guess is they’ll share content and continue to make the same deals they’ve been making for years to make that content available to people again.” Bundling and cross-company partnerships have since accelerated, including discounted operator and telco bundles (Comcast StreamSaver; Verizon myPlan) and a forthcoming multi-network sports JV (Venu Sports).
In fact, we may be seeing that happen already: Perhaps in response to market demands, Disney has already announced a Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle for a total of $13 per month. Today, cross-provider bundles such as Comcast’s StreamSaver and Verizon’s myPlan perk offer additional below-standalone pricing that simplifies access and reduces churn (example; example). Whether others follow suit is to be determined, and we plan to keep you updated with the evolving nature of the streaming space.
What’s Next
How the Streaming Landscape is Innovating
Take Plex, which is essentially a server that allows users to consolidate and organize their media into one place and now also aggregates free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST/AVOD), live TV, and discovery in a single interface (what is Plex?). According to Plex CEO Keith Valory, the service is a solution to the fatigue. Valory says it also takes “cord cutting” to another level, with live TV and DVR capabilities. “We’re kind of putting control back in the hands of the user in this age where you’re just getting hit with a plethora of different apps and experiences…and all of those are different,” Valory said. “Trying to remember where things are is kind of a pain.”
The caveat, however, is that because Plex’s servers are moderated by users, some reports have indicated that this means a lot of the commercial content is likely pirated. Valory says that Plex does not condone piracy, and that the company has a team dedicated to removing content in violation of its copyright and take-down provisions. “We do everything we can to ensure the system is not used for that,” Valory said. “Again, there are so many ways to get great content into your life and into Plex without resorting to those means, whether it’s recording or buying the content or taking advantage of the content our partners are delivering.” Regulators, meanwhile, increasingly target illicit IPTV, cyberlockers, and stream-ripping services (USTR Notorious Markets).
But the need to obtain content in a quicker, more efficient (and less costly) manner has not only been a hassle for users, it’s also placed a burden on filmmakers. Estimates of the economic toll vary widely — some analyses put losses in the tens of billions (lost $37.5 billion) — and recent public data show piracy pressure rising again in Europe and sustained at material levels in major markets, with streaming/IPTV now dominant (EUIPO; UK IPO 2024; ARCOM 2024). Michael Kureth, a tech and entertainment professional, says torrenting (or pirating) “impacts and discourages a lot of filmmakers to not even pursue or make a film or try to distribute it.”
As more and more Netflix-esque sites crop up, and as consumers become even more burdened by the options, Kureth says it’s going to become important to do something different in the coming years. Kureth says his patent-pending concept, Cinedapt, which uses machine learning to tailor movies to users and employs anti-piracy features, is an attempt to help filmmakers innovate while also combating piracy.
Although it can be invasive and sometimes discriminatory, artificial intelligence is changing the way we interact with certain types of media. Companies like Neftlix, Spotify, Plex, and Facebook use artificial intelligence to personalize a user’s experience or tailor ads to a specific person. Platforms now publish more detail about how recommendations and controls work (Meta; YouTube), and Netflix reports tens of millions of monthly active users on its ads tier, underscoring the role of AI in relevance and monetization (Netflix Upfront). It’s difficult to say whether customized movies are the answer to the current subscription fatigue and underlying piracy issues, but further platform separation isn’t helping those problems.
Users Might Not Be the Only Ones Sharing
Using a family member’s login is a popular option for gaming the system, but it’s costing companies like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon hundreds of millions of dollars. And those companies will eventually have to compromise. In practice, many are moving from tolerance to monetization: Netflix’s paid-sharing rollout drove record net adds and double-digit revenue growth (investor letters), and Disney+ has begun limiting sharing with broader rollout planned (company update).
Speaking specifically about the upcoming Disney+, Valory said, “It doesn’t make sense from an economic to only distribute that content through that app.” Rather, he thinks these companies will need to find other ways to distribute their own content. “You can think of it as coopetition — yes, they’re competing with some of the other providers in the space, but they also need to, kind of, cooperate. And my guess is they’ll share content and continue to make the same deals they’ve been making for years to make that content available to people again.” Bundling and cross-company partnerships have since accelerated, including discounted operator and telco bundles (Comcast StreamSaver; Verizon myPlan) and a forthcoming multi-network sports JV (Venu Sports).
In fact, we may be seeing that happen already: Perhaps in response to market demands, Disney has already announced a Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle for a total of $13 per month. Today, cross-provider bundles such as Comcast’s StreamSaver and Verizon’s myPlan perk offer additional below-standalone pricing that simplifies access and reduces churn (example; example). Whether others follow suit is to be determined, and we plan to keep you updated with the evolving nature of the streaming space.