We dropped three stories last week: Apple folding MLS into its core TV service, NBCU reviving NBC Sports Network, and Fox opting to keep the World Series off Tubi. Together, they point to one clear shift. The biggest players in sports streaming aren’t just chasing rights. They’re focused on controlling how those rights move.
U.S. Streaming Rides Into 2026 on Wave of Uncertainty, Says Parks Associates
Read More
YouTube TV ingests ESPN DTC Content Under Disney Deal
Read More
Registration Now Open: OTT.X Breakfast at CES 2026
Read More
Amazon Prime Video Uses GenAI for TV Season Video Recaps
Read More
Streamers Join the National Pastime in New 3-Year MLB Rights Deals Beginning in 2026
Read More
Share of Global Subscribers Acquired by Series Across Disney+ and Hulu
Read More
Control Is the New Currency
We dropped three stories last week: Apple folding MLS into its core TV service, NBCU reviving NBC Sports Network, and Fox opting to keep the World Series off Tubi. Together, they point to one clear shift. The biggest players in sports streaming aren’t just chasing rights. They’re focused on controlling how those rights move.
The Take
Distribution is emerging as the real currency in sports streaming. Apple is eliminating friction. NBCU is hedging against third-party gatekeepers. Fox is engineering precision across its portfolio. The war isn’t over who owns the content. It’s over who owns the lanes it travels through.
Read the Full Analysis: The Streaming Wars
U.S. Streaming Rides Into 2026 on Wave of Uncertainty, Says Parks Associates
The state of streaming is strong — but consumer sentiment is iffy, and new models are being deployed to fight off churn.
Such is the video business described by research company Parks Associates, as the firm keynoted its eighth annual “Future of Video” B2B event in Marina del Rey, Calif. this week with its also annual “State of Streaming” report.
The three-day event — which this year included influential mover-shakers in the video business from telecom (Charter Communications EVP Scott Barton), streaming (TVOS evangelist Matthew Henick from The Trade Desk) and Wall Street (Needham & Co. analyst Laura Martin), just to name a few — was once again highlighted by the research company’s 76-page research summary of the U.S. streaming business.
The report, drawn from a survey of more than 8,000 domestic broadband households and presented Nov. 18 by Parks Associates research VP Jennifer Kent, found that subscription streaming service adoption over the third quarter of this year expanded to 91% of U.S. internet households (from 89% in third quarter of 2024), while traditional pay-TV subscriptions declined to 41% (from 50% in Q3 2024).
The report also offers key insights into the economic factors governing the U.S. subscription streaming industry, amid an uncertain future of import tariffs, inflation and other variables.
Lots of ground gets covered, and there are tons of charts. Here are five snapshots that stood out:
First and foremost, as the consumer economy moves into an uncertain future, consumer sentiment on video spending remains … well, split. Right in half. While 16% of U.S. consumers expect to spend less on video entertainment over the next six months, an equal measure of 16% project spending more. Compare that reaction to the dour sentiment on such essentials as groceries (40% more, just 12% less) and household supplies (26% more, 12% less).
Read the Full Story: Media Play News
Read the Full State of Streaming Report: Parks Associates
YouTube TV ingests ESPN DTC Content Under Disney Deal
Ahead of the weekend, Google’s YouTube TV and Disney reached a carriage renewal that not only restored the media company’s linear channels, including ABC and ESPN, to the virtual MVPD’s lineup but also allows for direct integration of some ESPN DTC content within the YouTube TV app.
Announced November 14, the multi-year distribution agreement marks the end of a public carriage dispute that saw YouTube TV subscribers go without key programming, including college and NFL football, for two weeks.
And the dispute represented a face-off between two heavy hitters as YouTube TV is the leading U.S. streaming pay TV provider with estimates of nearly 9 million subscribers (and the pockets of parent Google) while Disney counts crucial programming, particularly during the fall sports season.
The new agreement spans continued YouTube TV carriage of Disney’s linear channel portfolio, including all the ESPN networks, ABC, Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX Networks and the National Geographic channels. Select Disney networks will also be included in various genre-specific packages from YouTube TV. Other pay TV providers have moved to offer sports-focused skinny or genre bundles like those from DirecTV, Comcast and Fubo. The deal also adds ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer Unlimited Plan service to YouTube TV pay TV packages at no extra cost and gives YouTube TV the ability to include the Disney+ and Hulu bundle as part of select offerings.
“This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch,’’ said Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, in a statement. “It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.”
YouTube TV released a statement saying, “We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers.”
Read the Full Story: StreamTV Insider
No Time for Drama: The Microdrama Revolution Reshaping Streaming
Registration is now open for the annual OTT.X Breakfast at CES on January 6, 2026. Kick off CES with an exclusive, high-level gathering that brings together the most influential leaders in CTV, OTT, streaming, and digital entertainment.
This year’s theme, United in Innovation, reflects the power of our industry coming together to exchange ideas, forge partnerships, and set the agenda for the year ahead, perfectly aligning with the spirit of CES, where breakthrough technologies, bold thinking, and cross-industry collaboration take center stage.
Featured Sessions
State of Streaming
Be among the first to hear findings from Parks Associates’ just released State of Streaming (S.O.S.) Report. This presentation explores shifting viewing behaviors, the rise of hybrid monetization models, growing FAST and ad-supported adoption, and the expanding influence of connected TVs on the entertainment landscape.
CES Innovation Insights for 2026
Gain an early look at standout trends from this year’s CES Innovation program. This snapshot preview highlights emerging technologies to watch and offers fresh perspective on how innovation may shape the future of streaming, content distribution, and consumer engagement in 2026.
Beyond the sessions, the OTT.X Breakfast provides an unmatched environment to connect with leaders across OEMs, platforms, ad-tech, content, devices, and the broader digital entertainment ecosystem all while enjoying premium networking and a full, hearty breakfast to kick off your CES morning.
Gather meaningful insights, spark new ideas, uncover opportunities, and set the tone for the year ahead before the CES show floor even opens.
The OTT.X Breakfast at CES is free for all OTT.X Members, and early-bird general admission pricing is now available.
Amazon Prime Video Uses GenAI for TV Season Video Recaps
Amazon’s Prime Video is leveraging a generative AI for a new Video Recaps feature that’s rolling out in beta and is meant to help viewers catch up or get a refresher on past seasons of select TV series before settling in for the newest one.
It marks the next evolution of Prime Video’s X-Ray Recaps, an AI-powered feature that debuted in 2024 and provides text summaries of key cliffhangers, plot points and other recap details of series.
With the latest rollout, Prime Video is making AI-powered recaps audio-visual.
Initially, the Video Recaps feature is available in beta on connected TV devices for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., including Fallout, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Upload, Bosch, and The Rig. The feature will continue to roll out to additional titles.
Per Amazon, it uses AI to identify key plot points and character arcs of a show’s season and summarize them in a theatrical-quality video. AI is used to find the most compelling video clips and then combines those with audio effects, dialog snippets and music from the show for a final visual video recap that also features an AI-generated voiceover narration tying it together.
Read the Full Story: StreamTV Insider
Streamers Join the National Pastime in New 3-Year MLB Rights Deals Beginning in 2026
MLB has inked new three-year media rights agreements with Netflix, NBCUniversal and ESPN, beginning in the 2026 season.
The deals extend Disney-owned ESPN’s distribution of MLB for a 39th consecutive season, while expanding live access to the ESPN Unlimited standalone subscription streaming service. The national pastime returns to the NBC broadcast network (and Peacock) for the first time in 25 years, in addition to moving Netflix’s involvement beyond documentaries to live baseball events for the first time.
Apple TV will continue to stream “Friday Night Baseball” doubleheaders throughout the regular season.
“Our new media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix provide us with a great opportunity to expand our reach to fans through three powerful destinations for live sports, entertainment, and marquee events,” Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., said in a statement. “Following our last World Series game that averaged more than 51 million viewers globally, these partnerships build on MLB’s growing momentum that includes generational stars setting new standards for excellence, new rules which have improved the game on the field, and increases in important fan engagement metrics like viewership, attendance, participation and social media consumption.”
Netflix will open the MLB season the next three seasons with a single-game opening night live-stream featuring the New York Yankees vs. the San Francisco Giants, ahead of the traditional opening day slate of games.
Netflix will also live-stream the T-Mobile Home Run Derby the day before the All-Star Game at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
The platform will also stream an additional special event game each year, including the MLB at Field of Dreams game from Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13 featuring the Minnesota Twins vs. the Philadelphia Phillies.
Read the Full Story: Media Play News
Share of Global Subscribers Acquired by Series Across Disney+ and Hulu
Presented By:
Last week Disney reported earnings for the quarter, and while linear results largely fell short of expectations, Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics shows how content from these linear channels is still driving streaming results for the company.
Key Findings
-
- Highlighting the success of streaming, DTC operating income rose 39% to $352M, and combined Disney+ /Hulu hit 195.7M subscribers, up 12.4M sequentially.
- Across the two platforms, Disney+ originals led acquisitions (25.5%) and Hulu originals ranked second (11.9%). The next five linear brands (Disney Channel, ABC, FOX, FX, Nat Geo) together delivered ~40% of global series‑attributed sign‑ups, underscoring how content from linear channels is still a big driver of signups to the company’s streaming services.
- Looking ahead, Disney provided guidance of double-digit DTC margins next year. Recent October price hikes may lift churn but also strengthen upsell into the Disney+/Hulu bundle.
In Case You Missed It
- The AI Layer Is Here and Streaming Now Lives Inside It. The Streaming Wars
- All Reality Reveals AMC’s Hybrid Approach to DTC and Aggregated Distribution. The Streaming Wars
- What If ESPN Unlimited Was Never Meant for Direct-to-Consumer? The Streaming Wars
- Sinclair’s Stake in Scripps Sets Off the Next Local-TV Knife Fight. The Streaming Wars
- Warner Bros Expands Its Immersive Strategy With Cosm and Revives Harry Potter for a New Exhibition Era. The Streaming Wars
- YouTube TV Wins Big as Disney Pushes ESPN’s Next Chapter Into the Bundle. The Streaming Wars
- MLS Blows the Doors Open: Apple TV Makes Every Match Free to Subscribers in 2026. The Streaming Wars
- NBCU’s NBC Sports Network Revival: A Strategic Counterpunch in the Streaming Era. The Streaming Wars
- Starz Explores A+E Acquisition as Linear TV Shakeout Accelerates. The Streaming Wars
Powered by
FOR B2B BRANDS READY TO STOP SOUNDING LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
43Twenty helps media, SaaS, and streaming tech companies punch above their weight — with content that builds pipeline, brand that drives demand, and strategy that actually means something.
What we do:
-
Brand Strategy that sharpens your story and makes you unignorable
-
Content Marketing that turns internal expertise into deal-closing assets
-
SEO that attracts high-intent buyers and drives compounding growth
-
Paid Campaigns that reach decision-makers
-
Digital PR that earns coverage, backlinks, and credibility in the right circles
If your competitors sound the same, that’s your opportunity.
We help you take it.