Omdia: Global Online Video Subscriptions Reach 2.24 Billion in 2025

Why It Matters

The data confirms streaming’s dominance over traditional pay TV and signals a pivot from subscriber acquisition to revenue maximization, reshaping advertising spend and content‑investment strategies across the media ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

• 2.24 billion global online video subscriptions in 2025, 17.6% YoY rise.
• Online video revenues $176 bn beat pay‑TV’s $170 bn for first time.
• Pay‑TV subscriptions fell 1.8% to 1.03 billion.
• Ad‑supported, low‑price plans drove most of 2025 subscriber growth.
• Omdia projects 2026 growth slowing to 5.6%, focusing on profitability.

Pulse Analysis

The 2025 milestone—2.24 billion streaming subscriptions and $176 billion in revenue—marks the first time over‑the‑top services have eclipsed traditional pay‑TV financially. This shift reflects broader consumer preferences for on‑demand, device‑agnostic content and the aggressive bundling of streaming tiers with broadband or mobile packages. Telecom operators and legacy pay‑TV carriers have leveraged ad‑supported, lower‑priced plans to attract price‑sensitive households, effectively turning network infrastructure into a distribution channel for streaming giants.

While ad‑supported tiers delivered a short‑term subscriber boost, Omdia warns that the model’s upside is limited. Platforms are now prioritizing average revenue per user (ARPU) by upselling premium, ad‑free experiences and experimenting with tiered pricing. This strategic pivot aligns with tighter margins in a saturated market, where growth is increasingly derived from existing users rather than new sign‑ups. Advertisers, in turn, gain access to a more valuable, data‑rich audience, but must navigate fragmented inventory across multiple streaming services.

Looking ahead, the projected 5.6% growth rate for 2026 suggests the industry is entering a maturity phase. Consolidation pressures may intensify as smaller players struggle to achieve scale, while content creators face heightened expectations for exclusive, high‑budget productions to retain subscribers. For investors and executives, the key takeaway is a transition from pure subscriber count metrics to profitability indicators, making ARPU, churn rates, and ad‑inventory efficiency the new performance benchmarks.