Disney Tops Traditional Media Companies in Streaming Revenue, Lionsgate Nabs No. 2 Spot

The race for streaming revenue is amping up at legacy media companies.

Based on the percent of streaming revenues relative to company revenue, Disney leads the pack in D2C (direct-to-consumer) revenue, with a 19 percent slice of the streaming pie, thanks to Disney+ and Hulu. But the big surprise is Lionsgate, which counts more than 11 million subscribers for its Starz service and grabs 18 percent of streaming revs, according to Macquarie Research.

That level of total sales is a seismic shift in media dollars, reports Bloomberg.

Other traditional media companies have earned a smaller revenue slice of streaming income, notes Macquarie.

ViacomCBS, AMC and Discovery have garnered 6 percent, 6 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Traditional media companies that have the smallest share include Fox Corp. at 2 percent and Comcast Corp. with zero.

The streaming leader, Netflix, which isn’t a traditional media company, is forecast to rake in $25 billion in 2020, per analysts.

Also this month, Disney announced a new service, which will add to its streaming coffers: Disney+ Premier Access.

The service offers the chance to view premium films — “Mulan” is the first — ahead of when they would normally be released on Disney+. Access is $29.99 and viewers can stream “Mulan” as often as they like, beginning Sept. 4, as long as they are Disney+ subscribers.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to make it clear that the rankings of companies from the Macquarie Research report are based on the percent of streaming revenues relative to company revenue.