How the Big Streaming Services Stack Up Heading Into 2025

Tubi announced this year that it reached nearly 80 million monthly active users, which is metric terminology that other streamers throughout the industry will become increasingly familiar with in 2025.

For instance, Netflix, which won’t report its subscriber numbers starting in the first quarter of 2025, will continue sharing the MAU numbers for its ad tier, the company’s ads president told ADWEEK.

An all-out sports blitz

With sports being one of the last forms of appointment TV, one of the only properties where CPMs rose in the upfront, and the programming that’s continually experiencing men’s and women’s ratings records, many streamers are getting in the game and seeing results.

For instance, YouTube TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket is helping the company remain near the top of the streaming charts, and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football is reportedly averaging 13.61 million viewers on Prime Video thus far this season, 9% higher than ratings at the same point last year.

But on the way to a potential all-streaming future, some are also crying foul.

After Amazon swooped in to take WBD’s share of the NBA and Women’s National Basketball Association market, joining in an 11-year deal along with Disney’s ESPN and NBCU, WBD brought a lawsuit to the NBA over the plan, later settling for a new pact that includes rights to show NBA content on its Bleacher Report and House of Highlights outlets, as well as various overseas distribution.

Meanwhile, Fox, Disney, and WBD planned to launch their joint Venu streamer in 2024 before a lawsuit from sports-first streamer Fubo hindered the project. Now, Venu sits in limbo. However, Fox chief financial officer Steven Tomsic recently noted during UBS’ Global Media and Communications Conference that the companies will await the result of their appeal in early 2025.

Lastly, Netflix, which is set to stream two exclusive NFL games on Christmas Day, had a recent snafu with its live Jake Paul and Mike Tyson boxing match facing buffering issues. However, ADWEEK learned that the streamer has been bolstering its systems to be ready for the games.

Although there may be some bumps along the way, when it comes to streaming sports, 2025 is game time.