There Are Really Only 2 Competitors in the Streaming Wars

[PGage]

One of the best summaries of the state of play in the streaming wars. For all the horse racing analysis of Hulu and Amazon and Disney and etc. etc., this has been and looks like it will continue to be a fight between Netflix and YouTube. 

While the article doesn’t include an age or demographic breakdown, in my experience this is one of the biggest differences between my own content consumption and that of my young adult children who I find spend hours of their time watching YouTube, which frankly does strike me as what Ted Sarandos called “time killing“ as opposed to time spending. To be fair though I do notice I am probably spending a little more time than I used to binging YouTube content either from the Donz, or categories of SNL sketches, Vintage musical performances from old TV variety and concert shows, things like that. Even so, I don’t imagine myself spending much time watching “original content“ on YouTube, which my children spend a lot of time doing.

Some good faith, fair use quotes for those who can’t get past the NYT paywall:

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“Netflix and YouTube are increasingly locked in a fierce battle for control over the television set, a rivalry that even Netflix’s executives can no longer deny….

For years, increasing subscriber numbers to their streaming services was the ultimate goal for media companies. Now, those companies are trying to increase the amount of time viewers spend on their service. On that score, YouTube and Netflix stand above the competition…

The two accounted for 20 percent of all television viewing time in the United States in May — 12.5 percent for YouTube, 7.5 percent for Netflix, according to Nielsen. The next closest streaming competitor is Disney, whose multiple streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) together accounted for 5 percent of TV time in May, Nielsen said.

Both companies are competing from a position of strength…

Netflix had more than $10 billion in operating income last year…

YouTube, which is owned by Google… The company does not disclose profits, but MoffettNathanson estimated that YouTube’s operating income was just under $8 billion in 2024…

On average, YouTube has an audience of seven million viewers watching off a TV set at any given moment during the day, more than Netflix’s daily average of 4.7 million, Nielsen said.

During prime-time hours, however, when the highest concentration of viewers is watching TV, the margins are tighter. An average of 11.1 million Americans are tuned into YouTube on their TV screens at night this year while 10.7 million are watching Netflix, Nielsen said.

Sarandos suggested that Netflix remained a platform where you pay close attention to a program — an intentional choice essentially, perhaps during prime time — whereas YouTube was a far more passive viewing experience.

“There’s a difference between spending time and killing time,” he said. “We’re in the how-you-spend-time business.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/business/media/youtube-netflix-streaming.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare