Streamer Content Spend To Top Commercial Broadcasters For First Time In 2025 – Report​on February 4, 2025 at 9:30 am

For the first time this year the streamers will spend more on content than commercial broadcasters.

That is the forecast from the latest Ampere Analysis report, which found that while the overall content spend of $248B will nudge up only slightly in 2025, a landmark shift between SVoDs and commercial nets that has been brewing for some time will take place.

According to Ampere, streamers will account for 39% of content spend in 2025, swapping places with commercial broadcasters, who will comprise 37%. The rest of the spend will be made up by public broadcasters (9%), theatrical studios (8%) and pay-TV (7%).

Streamer spend will shoot up 6% to $95B in 2025 – $4B above commercial nets – while overall content spend from all players will inch upwards by 0.4% to the $248B, Ampere found. The latter figure is less than last year’s increase, which, despite market contraction, rose by 2%. Ampere put this down to higher ad spend on the U.S. Presidential Election, the Summer Olympics and the resolution of the 2023 Hollywood Strikes.

The landmark of streamers besting commercial nets on spend won’t come as an enormous surprise given the way in which the content market has been heading. While all players have been experiencing difficulties, commercial broadcasters have struggled to get to grips with declining traditional ad spend as advertisers migrate to digital. Streamers are expected to ensure investment grows at a slower pace than revenue to maintain attractive profit margins, Ampere said today.

Peter Ingram, a research manager at Ampere, added: “The continued growth of VoD spend, combined with the more cautious outlook of linear broadcasters, highlights the shifting role of traditional television as viewer demand turns to digital platforms and streaming.”

Late last year, Ampere research revealed that streamer profits are set to increase at three times the pace of subs over the coming years.