is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more news about the streaming wars, follow Emma Roth. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.
How it started
From 2019 to around 2021, we were in the midst of a streaming renaissance. Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, Apple TV, Peacock, and HBO Max all made their debuts, challenging the dominance of Netflix and other legacy streamers like Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. New indie streaming services, like the cinephile-focused Criterion Channel, emerged during this time.
Subscription prices were still relatively low. Heck, Disney Plus cost just $6.99 without ads at launch (it costs $11.99 with ads now and $18.99 without). Fierce competition in the industry also brought about a slew of original series, like Ted Lasso, The Mandalorian, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, that made services other than Netflix actually worth subscribing to.
How it’s going
While Netflix has added 25 million more subscribers in 2025 — bringing its global total to 325 million — signups to other services have begun to plateau. Peacock most recently reported adding three million subscribers over the last few months of 2025, while Paramount grew by 1.4 million subs during its third quarter. Disney last said Disney Plus added 1.5 million subscribers in the US and Canada in the three months leading up to November 2025 — but, like Netflix, it has stopped reporting these numbers each quarter.
Advertising has also become an even bigger source of revenue for streamers, as companies discover new and annoying ways to bombard you with ads. Data from the market research firm Antenna revealed that 46 percent of people in the US subscribed to Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Peacock, and Discovery Plus have ad-supported plans.
What happens next
... continue reading