How the Major Streamers Stack Up in Subscribers and Revenue

Although the “streaming wars” may hang around in name, Netflix continues to dominate the streaming battlefield, and has been the winner for several quarters in both subscriber numbers and revenue per user.

With the latest round of quarterly earnings reports done, now is the time to take inventory of the streaming pecking order because Netflix is about to change how the game is scored. Starting next quarter, Netflix will no longer disclose its subscriber and average revenue-per-paid-member figures on a quarterly basis, though it will continue to break out total revenue by region and announce major subscriber milestones as it crosses them.

In the latest round of results, the streaming king blew its competitors out of the water after adding a record 18.9 million subscribers, bringing its total to 301.63 million globally.

Disney is a distant second with a combined 203.8 million subscribers across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. The company added 1.6 million Hulu subscribers but shed 700,000 subscribers each at Disney+ and ESPN+ in the most recent quarter, a drop it attributed to higher pricing. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery added 6.4 million to its direct-to-consumer business, which includes Max, Discovery+ and HBO cable, for a total of 116.9 million globally. Paramount added 5.6 million for a total of 77.5 million and Peacock remained unchanged at 36 million. 

Netflix also led on average-revenue-per-user at $17.26 per paid subscriber in the U.S. and Canada. Hulu was second at $12.52, followed by Warner Bros. Discovery at $11.77, Peacock at around $10, Disney+ at $7.99 and ESPN+ at $6.36. Paramount+ does not disclose its quarterly ARPU figure. 

Apple TV+ and Amazon’s Prime Video do not disclose quarterly subscriber and ARPU figures, though Amazon said it reached 200 million monthly viewers, including 115 million in the U.S.

Netflix

Broken down by region, Netflix has 89.6 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada; 101.1 million in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; 53.3 million in Latin America; and 57.5 million in the Asia-Pacific region. EMEA revenue per user was $11.11 during the quarter, while APAC was $7.34 and LATAM was $8.

Netflix’s ad tier, which has 70 million monthly active users globally and accounts for more than 55% of new sign-ups in the 12 countries where it’s available, doubled ad revenue in 2024 and will do so again in 2025, the company said. During its recent earnings call, co-CEO Greg Peters said the offering is on track to reach “sufficient scale” and will move from the crawl to walk stage in 2025.

Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+

Disney+ and Hulu had a combined operating profit of $293 million, up from a $138 million loss a year ago, while revenue grew 6% to $6.07 billion. 

Disney+ has a total of 56.8 million U.S. subscribers and 67.8 million international subscribers. Disney+ domestic ARPU was $7.99, while international ARPU was $7.19. Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said Disney+ subscriber growth in the second quarter will be similar to Q1. 

Hulu reported 53.6 million total subscribers, with 49 million SVOD-only subscribers and 4.6 million Hulu + Live TV subscribers. SVOD-only ARPU was $12.52, while Hulu + Live TV ARPU was $99.22. 

ESPN+ reported 24.9 million subscribers with ARPU of $6.36 for the quarter. In addition to Disney+’s ESPN tile, the sports network’s “flagship” streaming service launches this fall, packaging its programming with fantasy sports integrations, enhanced statistics, betting features and e-commerce. 

Disney continues to crack down on password sharing and will make more tech improvements to lower churn and bolster subscriber growth, the company said. It also trimmed its content budget to $23 billion from $24 billion for the year.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery groups streaming numbers across its direct-to-consumer division, which includes Max, Discovery+ and HBO cable subscriptions. Together, they reported profits of $409 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Total DTC revenue grew 5% to $2.65 billion, with ARPU of $7.44 globally, $11.77 domestically and $3.74 outside the U.S. WBD has 57.1 million domestic streaming subscribers and 59.8 million international subscribers.

The company forecast its streaming business will deliver a profit of approximately $1.3 billion in 2025 and reach at least 150 million global subscribers by the end of 2026 through Max’s continued international expansion, strategic distribution partnerships and higher penetration with its ad-supported tier. 

Max is currently available in more than 70 countries and will be introduced to 10 million Sky subscribers in the U.K. and Ireland in the second quarter of 2026 and launch in Germany and Italy in the first quarter of 2026, the company said. 

In January, WBD’s new restructuring took effect, separating its linear networks business from its studios and streaming businesses. CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said there won’t be a dramatic change to its segment reporting and that additional guidance will be provided during its first quarter earnings.

Paramount

Paramount Global’s streaming division, which includes Paramount+ and Pluto TV, narrowed its losses by 42% to $286 million during the fourth quarter, driven by revenue growth and cost efficiencies. 

Overall streaming revenue climbed 8% to $2.01 billion during the quarter. Paramount+ grew revenue 16% to $1.56 billion for the quarter, and is on track to reach domestic profitability in 2025, the company said.

Paramount said it expects its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media to close in the first half of 2025, subject to FCC approval.

Peacock

Comcast’s Peacock posted a loss of $372 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, though that loss was narrowed from $825 million in the prior year period. Revenue grew 28% to $1.3 billion. 

Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong said Peacock would continue to improve profitability in 2025, with company president Mike Cavanagh adding that Comcast and its NBCUniversal media network is focused on a “broadcast-plus-streaming” strategy. Comcast plans to spin off its cable network portfolio into a separate, publicly traded company, which is expected to take a year to complete. Comcast chairman Brian Roberts said 98% of Peacock’s viewing does not include the spun-off networks.

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