The streaming bubble may have already burst

Summary

Consumers are cutting streaming services due to price hikes and lack of new content.
Netflix is at risk of failure as users turn to cheaper options.
Severance on Apple TV+ saw more than doubled viewership in season 2, proving the efficacy of free content.

As budgets get tighter and

prices skyrocket
, you can’t blame consumers for trying to find a little relief. And as is so often the case, the first thing folks cut when times are tough is entertainment. And it looks like your favorite streaming service is probably already feeling the pinch.

According to TiVo’s Video Trends Report for the fourth quarter of 2024 (via Business Wire), consumers have already begun the process of paring down their streamer budget last year, with most unsubscribing from at least one service during the measurement period. Price hikes were a major factor behind these numbers, along with a lack of new content, and with streamers getting more expensive and producing less, it seems reasonable to expect this trend to continue into 2025.

This is obviously bad news for streaming services, but perhaps none moreso than Netflix, which, despite being the industry leader is

just a few dollars away from complete failure
. Perhaps that’s why their executive team has been making some

truly bizarre statements

recently
.

The Xbox Series X now costs $100 more as Microsoft hikes prices across the board

Microsoft has announced a worldwide price increase for Xbox consoles, controllers, and games.

Severance season 2 was even more of a win for Apple TV+ than we even knew

Data shows the second season more than doubled the viewership of the first

Apple TV+

Severance

Release Date: February 18, 2022
Showrunner: Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
Directors: Ben Stiller
Writers: Dan Erickson

Severance is that rare show that, while being modestly popular in its debut effort, absolutely caught on fire in its sophomore outing. And while most casual observers figured season 2 would show an improvement on initial viewership, new data shows that the series actually more than doubled its initial audience, with third-party organization Luminate using their own data to show Season 2 viewing minutes rising 218% when compared with season 1. Not only was word of mouth overwhelmingly positive for this show, but I can’t help but feel like the decision to put all of season 1 on

The Roku Channel
for free may have helped this Apple TV+ show reach new heights.

I really hope that more services put blockbuster shows on FAST services in the future, as it seems clear that this is one of the best ways to build an audience and actually get audiences to subscribe in the future.

9 changes to YouTube TV happening now ahead of major redesign

YouTube is making improvements to its TV app ahead of its expected redesign later this year.

Sports fans are increasingly going all-in on streaming

Broadcast continues to erode

Apple TV

As first reported on Pocket-lint by our own Craig Donaldson, a new report from Hub Entertainment Research shows that folks are overwhelmingly tuning into streaming services for live sports content at a rate of 69 percent as of January 2025, easily surpassing cable and broadcast networks, which had rates of 63 percent and 66 percent, respectively, as of January 2025.

This news comes at a very interesting time as Apple TV+ continues to invest more in sports offerings and Samsung adds more sports offerings to its proprietary Samsung TV Plus FAST service. Though many thought sports would continue to drive terrestrial TV delivery, it seems like fans would much rather stream the latest games via YouTube TV or another comparable service.

Samsung owners just got a huge free TV upgrade

Samsung is expanding Samsung TV Plus with more free sports content.

Andor’s second season keeps the momentum going

The series continues to tell timely stories in a galaxy far, far away

Andor

Release Date: 2022 – 2025-00-00
Network: Disney+
Showrunner: Tony Gilroy
Directors: Susanna White
Writers: Dan Gilroy

Stellan Skarsgård

Luthen Rael

We’re now halfway through Andor’s final season on Disney+ and it’s truly a shame we’re not getting any more, because this is quite simply the best Star Wars has been since 2019’s The Mandalorian season 1. This season sees a similar arc-based structure to the series’ debut offering, with substantial time skips to show not only how titular character Cassian Andor becomes the hardened resistance operative we see in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but also how characters like Mon Mothma are pushed to their limits as the Empire expands its power across the galaxy.

This season has also been diving more into what is driving the men pulling the strings of the resistance, most notably Saw Gerrera and Luthen Rael, showcasing that these leaders, while effective at getting the fires of the rebellion burning, are deeply, deeply flawed men who make a lot of questionable decisions even as they try to portray themselves as having the noblest of intentions. The closest media I can compare this series to is Dune, which may sound crazy to put in the same sentence as Star Wars in 2025, but I promise you that there are some very strong parallels.

If you haven’t checked into Andor season 2 yet, put it at the top of your watchlist. There’s simply no show right now that is doing it right now the way Andor is, and I’m sure the final stretch of episodes will be just as explosive as the first half, if not more.