The streaming industry could turn a financial corner in 2024.
Research firm Ampere Analysis predicts the streaming industry will start generating a consistent profit in the next 18 months. The firm’s new data, reported earlier by The Wrap, forecasts studios will make between $1 billion and $2 billion per year — before interest and taxes — by 2028.
This comes after streaming companies have struggled to stay afloat over the last few years. Platforms have navigated fluctuations in subscribers, competition with other services, Hollywood writers and actors going on strike, and rising inflation and production costs — all of which have greatly impacted the bottom line for a majority — if not all — companies in the streaming industry.
In turn, streamers have had to make tough — sometimes unpopular — decisions to right their respective ships. For example, Ampere predicts Disney will reach profitability as early as the first quarter of 2024. The company itself had estimated achieving profitability by September 2024.
It’s likely that the aggressive action Disney took this year, including price hikes, budget cuts, layoffs, password crackdowns, and merging Disney+ with Hulu, are contributing to the media giant returning to financial stability.
After Disney, Ampere predicts Warner Bros. Discovery will achieve profitability by the third quarter of 2024, followed by Paramount+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock in the first quarter of 2025.
Ampere went on to note that embracing advertising could further drive growth and profit. This could lead to an increase in free ad-supported streaming, which has been growing in popularity as viewers look for ways to save money.
We can only wait and see how Ampere Analysis’ predictions fare in 2024 and beyond.