Streamers continued retreating from original shows in 2025
The death of “peak TV” has not been exaggerated, per a new report from Luminate.
The year was 2022, and it was a good time to be a streaming subscriber.
Hit shows like Apple TV’s “Sevarance,” Hulu’s “The Bear,” and Disney’s “Andor” were premiering what felt like every other week. WBD’s HBO Max hadn’t yet dropped and then re-added the “HBO.” You could watch Netflix without ads for $10.
Four years later, the streaming business looks a lot different. Subscription prices have ballooned across the board, ad-supported tiers now dominate the streaming landscape, and major streamers have — for the most part — massively pulled back on the production of original series.
Entertainment data firm Luminate’s new 2025 report puts some fresh numbers on the death of the “peak TV” era. In 2025, the number of streaming shows fell 11% year over year to 584. Most major streamers released fewer original shows than they did the year prior. The trend becomes even clearer if you compare last year’s figures with 2022.
Over the past few years, streamers have pivoted some of their originals budgets toward higher-cost, more ad-friendly content like live sports. But that doesn’t explain the full picture. In Netflix’s full-year earnings report this week, the company said it invested more than $17 billion into creating or acquiring new shows or movies.
That figure is roughly in line with the past few years, but notably stagnant when compared to the streamer’s revenue growth. In 2021, Netflix invested $0.60 for every $1 of revenue it earned. Last year, it invested $0.38.
“We aim to grow content spend slower than revenue so that it contributes to our margin expansion while strengthening... and expanding that entertainment offering,” Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said on the Tuesday earnings call.
