Streaming reaches new highs with 2.24 billion subscribers and $176 billion revenue: Omdia report

LONDON: The streaming boom is far from over, but the industry’s fastest growth chapter may be nearing its final scene. Global online video subscriptions climbed to a record 2.24 billion by the end of 2025, according to new data from Omdia, marking the strongest annual growth rate the sector has seen since 2021. However, the research firm expects the pace of expansion to cool from 2026 as key markets approach maturity.

The latest figures show online video subscriptions rose 17.6 per cent year-on-year from 1.9 billion in 2024, while global pay-TV subscriptions continued their gradual decline, falling 1.8 per cent to 1.03 billion. As a result, streaming services now account for 68.4 per cent of the combined 3.3 billion television and video subscriptions worldwide.

The milestone is significant for another reason. In 2025, online video revenues overtook pay-TV revenues for the first time. Streaming platforms generated $176 billion in subscription and transactional revenue during the year, up 13.5 per cent, while pay-TV revenues slipped 4 per cent to $170 billion. The figures exclude advertising income.

According to Omdia, one of the biggest drivers behind the surge in subscriptions was the growing availability of lower-cost, ad-supported plans. These offerings, often bundled by telecom operators and pay-TV providers, helped attract price-sensitive consumers who may previously have been reluctant to pay for premium streaming services.

Commenting on the trend, Omdia, media, entertainment & advertising team, practice leader, Adam Thomas said, “The 17.6 per cent increase in subscriptions in 2025 was the largest annual rise since 2021. That growth was driven, in particular, by subsidized ad-tier subscriptions offered by telcos and pay-TV operators.”

Thomas noted that while subscriber numbers jumped sharply, revenue growth was comparatively lower because many of the new customers entered the market through discounted plans.

At the same time, streaming platforms are increasingly shifting their attention from subscriber acquisition to revenue optimisation. Rather than chasing rapid user growth, many services are raising prices on premium ad-free tiers and looking to extract greater value from existing customers.

That strategy is expected to shape the industry’s next phase. Despite the strong performance in 2025, Omdia forecasts online video subscription growth will slow to 5.6 per cent in 2026, reflecting increasing saturation in many established markets.

Offering a longer-term view, Omdia, TV & online video, senior principal analyst, Tony Gunnarsson said, “It’s clear that the availability of attractively priced ad-tier options created a temporary uplift in SVOD subscriber numbers in 2025. However, this has not changed our longer-term forecast, which remains for low single-digit annual growth rates for the foreseeable future.”

The findings suggest that while streaming has decisively overtaken traditional pay television in both scale and revenue, the industry’s next challenge will be sustaining growth in a market where attracting new subscribers is becoming increasingly difficult. The battle is no longer just about winning viewers, but about making each viewer more valuable.