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This article is part of our Opinions section, where we invite industry professionals to share their views on the most pressing technology questions of our time.
The streaming industry, much like an elaborate chessboard, has reached a critical juncture. What began as a chaotic flurry of new entrants is now converging into a high-stakes endgame, with a few major players vying for control of the board.
As Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav noted, 2025 is set to “offer a pace of change and an opportunity for consolidation… that would provide a real positive and accelerated impact on this industry that’s needed.”
He added: “If the best content is going to win, there needs to be some consolidation in order to have these businesses be stronger and have a better consumer experience.” This marks a definitive shift from the era of widespread disruption to one of strategic maturation.
Today, the digital media space is dominated by giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, HBO Max and Apple TV+. However, with nearly every US household subscribing to at least one service and consumers averaging 2.9 subscriptions, the market has reached a point of saturation.
This has fundamentally altered the industry’s focus from a “growth-at-all-costs mentality” based purely on subscriber numbers to a pressing need for profitability over subscribers. Consequently, streaming services are increasingly adopting strategies reminiscent of traditional television, including the widespread introduction of lower-priced ad tiers and the potential for pay-per-view models for premium content.
As the streaming industry matures, the path to sustained profitability and market leadership demands more than just scale; it requires clear vision, effective execution and strategic alignment with evolving consumer preferences.
In fact, the winners will be those who can truly own and control their intellectual property (IP) across the entire content lifecycle, from creation through to secure distribution and monetisation. This means recognising that success hinges on factors beyond content libraries, that is, the underlying technological infrastructure that enables seamless delivery, personalization and monetization.
Given the latter, it is no surprise that over half of media and entertainment mergers and acquisitions in 2024 involved at least one party from outside the industry, according to Bain’s 2025 M&A Report. A clear example was Summit Partners’ investment in Denmark’s SimplyTV, which brought external capital to accelerate its expansion.
At the same time, industry-to-industry consolidation also remained strong: Mediagenix, a SaaS provider specialising in content strategy and scheduling, acquired Spideo, a content recommendation platform that delivers two billion personalised suggestions each month to 120 million users. Similarly, SimplyTV itself expanded its market presence through the acquisition of InFlow Media.
And on a larger regional scale, one of the most telling examples is already transforming Africa’s media landscape today: Canal+’s proposed acquisition of MultiChoice Group exemplifies how consolidation enables local and regional companies to build scale and resilience against the dominance of global streaming giants.
By acquiring IP that resonates across multiple platforms, from merchandise to live experiences, media companies are also building interconnected ecosystems that engage audiences far beyond the screen and thus enable revenue generation beyond traditional subscriptions and advertising. For instance, later this year, Netflix will debut its first two Netflix Houses in Philadelphia and Dallas, where visitors can shop, explore interactive activities, and effectively step into the worlds of popular series.
Although major consolidation (for example, Disney absorbing Fubo into Hulu + Live TV, Skydance acquiring Paramount Global) and a move towards complementary licensing indeed continue, it nonetheless remains a fact that only a handful of vendors are thriving, while many others face layoffs, restructuring or stagnation. This fragmented landscape, with numerous firms barely breaking even, makes a strong case for even more consolidation. Yet, the lack of sufficient capital – whether from financially strong incumbents or external investors – remains the biggest bottleneck preventing acceleration.
In the case of Canal+’s proposed acquisition, too, the advantages are rather clear: the deal accelerates the company’s growth across Africa, particularly in markets with sizable numbers of English speakers, while ultimately providing MultiChoice with vital capital to strengthen its investment in local content and innovation.
All of this highlights a paradox: while consolidation is both needed and inevitable, it has been delayed by the absence of well-capitalized buyers willing to move decisively.
For capital providers who recognise the opportunity, the timing is undeniably favourable. Overcapacity and low valuations mean that consolidation can create significant value, and not only by rationalizing costs but also by strengthening technological backbones that will determine who survives in the long term.
For media companies, investors and technologists alike, the mandate is clear: stop chasing scale for scale’s sake and start architecting for endurance. In this next chapter of streaming, the game will no longer be won by those who move the fastest, but by those who move the smartest through blending strategic patience with operational precision and technological depth with creative foresight.
And as the lines between content, commerce and community continue to dissolve, those who supply the capital and conviction to drive consolidation will shape the future of streaming.
