- The Domestic Box Office Hits a Low Point
- FAST Platforms Rewrite the Streaming Playbook
- Nuts and Bolts of Streaming Advertising
- Discover What Global Streaming Platforms Pay to License Films and Shows
- M&A: Studio Consolidation and Divestures Accelerate
- Netflix Redefines Goals from Growth to Profit
- Library Content: The New Gold Standard
- The Road Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges
- FilmTake Away: A Year That Signaled Studio Panic
The year 2024 was nothing short of transformative for the media industry. While streaming platforms battled for dominance and legacy media companies scrambled to adapt, the domestic box office faced its worst year since the lockdowns after a couple of years of tepid recovery.
Meanwhile, the rise of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platforms like Roku and Tubi marked a return to advertising-driven models. With an eye on the trends that defined this year, let’s explore what lies ahead for filmed entertainment in 2025.
The Domestic Box Office Hits a Low Point
Hollywood’s 2024 box office numbers underscored the industry’s ongoing challenges. Domestic revenues fell to $8.75 billion, a 3.3% decline from 2023 and a staggering 23.5% drop compared to 2019. Analysts attributed much of this to the fallout from the previous year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes, which delayed major releases and thinned the release calendar. Despite the success of blockbusters like Disney’s Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, the year lacked fresh, original stories capable of drawing crowds.
Admissions, projected to reach around 800 million, fell significantly from the pre-lockdown peak of approximately 1.3 billion.
Nine of the top ten films were sequels, with Wicked being the sole original entry, but even that film was based on a highly successful musical play. Disney reclaimed its position as the leading studio, generating $5.46 billion globally, bolstered by Moana 2 and Despicable Me 4. However, the industry’s reliance on franchises revealed creative stagnation, leaving theaters struggling to attract audiences beyond family-friendly fare.
FAST Platforms Rewrite the Streaming Playbook
In a year when subscription streaming services plateaued, FAST platforms such as The Roku Channel and Tubi emerged as surprising winners. The Roku Channel surpassed Tubi to become the leading FAST service in the U.S., capturing 1.9% of all domestic television viewership, tying with Disney+ and outpacing competitors like Tubi, Peacock, Paramount+, MAX, and Pluto TV. This success reflects a broader trend: audiences increasingly embraced ad-supported streaming as a cost-effective alternative to subscription-based services.
FAST platforms’ throwback to scheduled programming, reminiscent of traditional TV, struck a chord with viewers seeking simplicity and affordability. Roku’s impressive 80% surge in streaming hours and its 13% increase in household penetration demonstrated the model’s viability.
In November 2021, cable accounted for a 37% share of TV viewership, while streaming accounted for just 28%. In 2024, streaming’s total TV usage grew to 42%, and linear cable’s share plummeted to 25%.
Nuts and Bolts of Streaming Advertising
Ads are sold programmatically through dynamic cost per mille (CPM) real-time auctions, a pricing model where you pay a certain amount for 1,000 impressions or the number of times your ad appears. CPM allows advertisers to pay a set price based on the number of impressions each placement receives monthly or quarterly, for example.
Like many channels on Freevee, FAST is a distribution model that’s a throwback to traditional linear TV. It allows viewers to watch scheduled programming on streamed channels rather than selecting on-demand content via AVOD.
The Roku Channel’s rapid growth highlights the increasing popularity of FAST platforms and the overall shift from traditional TV to streaming, as evidenced by streaming’s expanding market share and the continued erosion of linear cable and broadcast viewership.
Discover What Global Streaming Platforms Pay to License Films and Shows
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M&A: Studio Consolidation and Divestures Accelerate
The wave of mergers and acquisitions in 2024 underscored the financial pressures facing traditional media companies. Paramount’s deal with Skydance made headlines, but Comcast’s decision to spin off NBCUniversal’s cable networks into a separate entity, “SpinCo,” was arguably the boldest move. This maneuver signaled a growing trend among legacy players to offload declining assets and focus on digital ventures.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) restructuring, which separated its streaming and linear TV divisions, hinted at potential future divestitures. Meanwhile, Disney explored new forms of bundling, such as its partnership with WBD to offer a combined Hulu-Max-Disney+ package. These strategies, unthinkable a few years ago, reflect an industry in flux, with companies seeking to streamline operations and secure new revenue streams.
Netflix Redefines Goals from Growth to Profit
Netflix’s status as the streaming industry leader remains unchallenged, but 2024 marked a shift in its strategy. The company moved away from emphasizing subscriber growth, focusing instead on engagement and profitability. By discontinuing quarterly subscriber reports, Netflix signaled its intent to prioritize revenue and viewer satisfaction over sheer numbers.
This year, Netflix made strides in live events, hosting high-profile broadcasts like the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing bout and NFL games on Christmas. Despite foreseeable technical hiccups, these efforts showcased the platform’s ambition to expand beyond on-demand content. With WWE’s Monday Night Raw set to debut in January, Netflix is betting on live programming to enhance its ad-supported tier and deepen viewer engagement.
However, Netflix will need to improve streaming quality from their dreadful display on Christmas, which was the topic of conversation online and among millions of families gathered together.
However, Netflix’s gaming ambitions took a backseat in 2024, with little progress in expanding this segment. Instead, the streamer focused on licensing popular library titles, such as Sex and the City and Lost, to sustain its engagement metrics. As the company heads into 2025, its ability to innovate while maintaining its dominant position will be closely watched.
Library Content: The New Gold Standard
Streaming platforms increasingly turned to library content to drive engagement in 2024. Netflix leveraged licensed hits like Your Honor and continued its strategy of acquiring classic series content. Disney, however, stood out as the master of library content, using its extensive catalog to power its streaming services and theatrical releases.
The success of Moana 2 highlighted Disney’s unmatched ability to transform its animated classics into box office juggernauts. By leveraging its back catalog, Disney not only generated significant streaming engagement but also revitalized interest in theatrical sequels. This approach—turning beloved IP into streaming and box office successes—proved a winning formula, albeit an uninspired one.
The Road Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges
As 2025 approaches, the media industry faces critical questions. Will theaters recover as studios rebuild their release schedules, or will the shift to streaming solidify further? Can FAST platforms continue their rapid ascent, or will the novelty of ad-supported models wear thin? And how will Netflix and its competitors adapt to an era of opportunity and uncertainty?
The answers will shape the future of entertainment, but one thing is clear: innovation and adaptability will be key to thriving in this ever-evolving industry.
FilmTake Away: A Year That Signaled Studio Panic
The highs and lows of 2024 underscored the volatility of the film and streaming sectors. While the box office struggled, streaming platforms—both subscription-based and ad-supported—cemented their place at the center of the entertainment universe. Mergers, bundling, and bold strategic pivots dominated headlines, revealing an industry searching for sustainable growth.
As audiences, advertisers, and investors look ahead, the media landscape stands poised for another year of reinvention. Whether through innovative programming, strategic partnerships, or bold bets on technology, the entertainment world’s next chapter promises to be as unpredictable as the last.