- The New Frontlines of the Streaming Industry
- YouTube: From UGC Giant to Engagement Powerhouse
- Viewership Time by Distributor
- Ad-Supported FAST Channels Enter the Fray
- Worldwide Film & Television Distribution Intelligence
- FAST Channels and the New Value Proposition
- FilmTake Away: Netflix, YouTube, and the Future of Streaming
As the intense battle for subscriber acquisition in the streaming wars begins to calm, Netflix, the leader in subscription-based video on demand (SVOD), now faces a formidable new rival—YouTube.
Meanwhile, ad-supported free streaming platforms like Tubi are gaining ground, reshaping the digital entertainment playing field. In this new era of engagement-driven competition, Netflix’s throne is no longer unchallenged.
The New Frontlines of the Streaming Industry
The “streaming wars” have been widely declared over, with Netflix often crowned the victor. But victory in the streaming world is complicated. It depends on how you measure success: is it based on the number of subscribers or the total viewing time? If one looks at viewing time alone, the real winner is YouTube, which dominates both TV and smartphone screens in the U.S.
While Netflix carved its legacy through subscription-based content, YouTube thrived as a platform for user-generated content (UGC), leading the charge in capturing user attention across all devices. According to Nielsen’s reports, YouTube consistently outpaces other services in terms of total streaming time. With the competitive landscape evolving beyond subscriber counts to metrics like engagement and ad revenue, YouTube has emerged as a serious contender in the post-streaming wars.
YouTube: From UGC Giant to Engagement Powerhouse
YouTube’s original business model—offering free, ad-supported, user-generated content—makes it difficult to compare directly with subscription-based services like Netflix. However, this dynamic is changing as engagement, rather than mere subscriber numbers, becomes the key metric in the digital video market. YouTube’s ad-supported model and growing investment in high-quality, professionally produced content have given it an edge that traditional SVODs cannot ignore.
While Netflix poured billions into original content and expanded its global footprint, YouTube capitalized on its ability to engage users for extended periods without the heavy costs associated with in-house production. Revenue-sharing models with creators allow YouTube to maintain a constant stream of new, engaging content without the expenses of a traditional studio system. The platform’s reach extends beyond just free videos—it includes YouTube Premium for ad-free experiences and YouTube TV, a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD).
Furthermore, YouTube has managed to secure some of the most sought-after content in live entertainment, including the NFL Sunday Ticket. This diversification of on-demand and live content allows YouTube to compete head-to-head with SVODs like Netflix on mobile devices and television screens, where it has steadily gained marketshare.
Viewership Time by Distributor
Ad-Supported FAST Channels Enter the Fray
While YouTube continues to grow as a dominant force, another challenger has quietly emerged: free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels like Tubi and Roku. Once seen as low-tier alternatives to premium streaming services, these platforms are becoming more attractive to viewers overwhelmed by rising subscription costs.
FAST channels offer a treasure trove of licensed shows and films and a small but growing library of original content, all for free. For many viewers, this harkens back to the early days of Netflix, when its biggest draws were licensed content rather than expensive original programming, which increasingly marginalizes large swaths of the population on political and cultural grounds.
In fact, according to Nielsen's recent Media Distributor Gauge report, Tubi has matched Disney+ in terms of usage, each garnering 1.8% of television viewing time in May 2023. Tubi's success comes from offering beloved, older films, popular television franchises, and titles shelved by other networks for cost-saving purposes. As traditional SVODs raise prices and add ad-supported tiers, many consumers opt for free alternatives like Tubi, Pluto TV, and Roku, where the entry price is simply watching a few ads.
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New pricing benchmarks across SVOD, Pay-1, and multi-window film licensing—updated to reflect current deal structures and rates.
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FAST Channels and the New Value Proposition
The appeal of FAST channels lies not only in their content offerings but also in their value proposition. As streaming costs rise across the board, the "bargain" of free ad-supported options becomes increasingly attractive. The bottom tiers of most major SVOD services, such as Netflix and Disney+, are now ad-supported but still require a monthly subscription fee. These shifting economic factors lead more budget-conscious consumers to platforms like Tubi, where the experience is free, albeit ad-laden.
Tubi, for example, saw its viewership increase by 43% year-over-year in May 2023, while Roku grew by 36%. These services may lack the production budgets of Netflix or Disney, but they provide a massive library of content, from popular network shows to second-life series. Consumers looking to avoid the rising subscription costs of premium services are increasingly turning to these FAST channels as a viable alternative opportunities for brands to connect with this audience across multiple platforms.
FilmTake Away: Netflix, YouTube, and the Future of Streaming
As digital entertainment evolves, Netflix, YouTube, and FAST channels like Tubi are engaged in a new kind of battle—a fight for engagement. While Netflix may have won the streaming wars of the past, it now faces intense competition from YouTube, which dominates viewing time, and from free alternatives like Tubi, which offers a compelling bargain to price-conscious consumers.