2024 State of Play
Global streaming insights and the content that keeps viewers hitting play
The importance of content has never been greater for global streaming services. Now evolved from subscription-driven growth strategies, providers are leaning into a mix of high-profile originals, sports and deep content libraries to entice viewers and keep them engaged once they’ve tuned in.
This year’s State of Play report highlights key findings from an in-depth analysis of the content distributed by the industry’s leading subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. Streaming platforms, publishers and studios can use these insights to refine their distribution strategies and develop personalized content journeys for audiences who are hungry for content, yet unsure how to find what they’re looking for.
Key report findings:
- 93% of the content that global SVOD services offer is exclusive to an individual service, but much of it isn’t being watched.
- Licensed TV shows drive nearly twice the viewership of original programming, but much of that viewership is for non-exclusive content.
- Less than 12% of SVOD content was produced before 1990, and over 80% was produced in the last 35 years.
- SVOD content is increasingly global: only 44% was produced in the U.S.
- Drama is the dominant genre and tense is the most common mood across SVOD content.
Streaming plays a supporting role for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
The centralized broadcast experience of the 2026 World Cup will be fragmentation free for U.S. sports fans—an attribute that may change with future tournaments.
Sports content on global SVOD services will soon rival movie catalogs
Sports distribution across global SVOD providers now eclipses 38.5k programs.
Outside of the upfronts: Capitalizing on live sports across CTV
The broadening CTV landscape opens a wealth of advertising opportunity that sits well outside of national upfront deals.