11 Apr Streaming Profit Report: Netflix Leads, Disney Rises, Warner Grows. Is Consolidation Next? [The Hollywood Reporter]
BY GEORG SZALAI
April 11, 2025 | It has taken a few years, but more legacy Hollywood studios’ streaming businesses have started turning annual profits, with the rest touting progress toward that goal.
Netflix, crowned on Wall Street as the undisputed king of streaming, grew its subscribers, revenue and profit in 2024. Meanwhile, among studios — which have been refocused on streaming profits after their initial bullseye on subscriber gains — Warner Bros. Discovery last year managed to multiply a small 2023 profit for the business that includes, among others, its streaming operations, while Disney swung to its first-ever full calendar-year streaming profit. And Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Paramount Global narrowed the losses in the divisions with their core streaming businesses with an eye on profitability ahead.
Boosting the bottom lines were such factors as more selective spending on original programming, price increases and a push of cheaper subscription tiers that include advertising. “Netflix spends more on direct-to-consumer (DTC) content than any other company, yet because of its size, its spend per subscriber is in line with peers,” MoffettNathanson analysts Robert Fishman and Michael Nathanson highlighted in a Feb. 11 report. “It also generates less revenue per hour of engagement than any other SVOD platform, yet the magnitude of its engagement means its aggregate revenues are second to none.”
The question now is how sustainable and scaleable streaming profits can be for anyone not called Netflix. And Wall Street observers generally don’t expect them to ever rival the profitability of cable networks divisions at the height of their financial power before the rise of cord-cutting. But many expect this streaming environment to just be waiting for a shake-up, including with consolidation, partnerships and more bundling among major streaming platforms. So where did Netflix and the streaming arms of Hollywood giants stand as of the end of the calendar year 2024?
For an analysis, keep in mind that the divisions that contain Hollywood companies’ streaming businesses are not directly comparable. For example, Warner Bros. Discovery’s “Direct-to-Consumer,” or DTC, unit consists of its streaming and premium pay-TV services, meaning HBO is part of it. Meanwhile, the Disney’s “Direct-to-Consumer” division does not include ESPN+. And Comcast’s NBUniversal breaks out revenue and profit for its streamer Peacock, which is part of its broader Media unit.
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