What will be the 5 biggest streaming stories of 2025?
What will be the 5 biggest streaming stories of 2025?
Predicting the biggest stories of 2025, from mergers and acquisitions to big lawsuits and more.
We have now officially said goodbye to 2024. It was a big year for streaming services, with nearly all the major services on the market raising prices to try and boost their revenues enough to net a profit. The NBA signed deals to leave a longtime linear partner behind in favor of a new streaming home, and Netflix partnered with the NFL for the first time.
So, which streaming services will be generating big headlines in the new year? Check out my list of predictions for what’s coming in 2025 below!
What will the biggest streaming stories of 2025 be?
Venu Sports bites the dust
Things aren’t looking good for Venu Sports. The joint venture service from Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery was intended to combine live streams of 14 sports-related channels for a monthly cost of less than $45. That was the plan, anyway, until an antitrust lawsuit brought by Fubo spawned a preliminary injunction that’s keeping Venu from being sold to customers.
Venu’s trial is set for October 2025, and I don’t expect the three companies responsible for its birth to have any more luck with a jury than they have had with a judge so far. Fubo has made a compelling case that Venu could upend the entire live TV streaming industry, and that allowing it to be sold could cause substantial harm to competitors. It seems likely that the streamer will have to be mothballed for good, effectively causing Disney, Fox, and WBD to have to flush the tens of millions of dollars spent on developing Venu down the drain.
Venu Sports
Venu Sports was the planned live TV streaming service that would offer sports from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Programming from ESPN+ and on-demand content would also be available, as would broadcasts of NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA games. However, in January 2025, after Fubo and Hulu + Live TV officially merged, Venu’s launch was put on hold thanks to a preliminary injunction. It was only a few days later that the joint venture was officially shut down for good.
Flagship ESPN streamer takes the world by storm
If Venu does go the way of the dinosaur in 2025, I feel pretty confident that Disney, and it’s sports streaming dreams, will be alright. That’s because it’s got another plan for delivering ESPN — the country’s most popular cable channel — to customers without a cable subscription. Disney plans to launch its new ESPN streaming service — currently working under the name Flagship — before the start of the 2025 college and pro football seasons.
I think Flagship has nearly as much potential to disrupt the live TV streaming world as Venu does. When people have a way to watch all of the sports content available on ESPN without having to pay for other channels they only seldomly watch, I predict they will take that opportunity with gusto. Cord-cutting will accelerate, and Disney will rake in cash hand-over-fist.
ESPN Select
ESPN Select is a streaming service that replaced ESPN+ and provides access to live NHL, MLB, and MLS games, PGA Tour Golf, international sports events, ESPN original programming, and a complete archive of “30 for 30.” Find out our review of the service and how to start streaming ESPN Select.
Max merges with another streamer
Warner Bros. Discovery has made it clear more than once that it believes in bundling. CEO David Zaslav has touted the benefits of streaming bundles more than once and backed up his words by allowing Max to join a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu in 2024. Most recently, WBD announced its intentions to spin off its streaming segment and its cable networks into separate businesses.
That could make it much easier to merge Max with another streaming service, and that’s exactly the type of transaction I expect WBD to pursue. The company clearly sees its entertainment future as digital, and a deal with Paramount+, Peacock, or another streamer could help take the service over the top and vault it to the level of Disney+ or Netflix.
HBO Max
HBO Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library and exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Within HBO Max, B/R Sports allows users to watch live NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.
Netflix raises prices
As I mentioned above, almost all of the biggest streaming services raised prices at some point in 2024. Disney+, Hulu, Max, Paramount+, and Peacock all increased rates on at least one of their plans over the course of the year, leaving Netflix and Apple TV+ as the only two major streamers not to hike rates during the year.
But Netflix executives have repeatedly said that the potential to ask customers to “pay a little more” is still in the cards. Netflix has the least-expensive ad-supported plan on the market at $7 per month, and the cost of its ad-free plans is either equivalent or less than those of other streamers as well. With new seasons of “Stranger Things” and other popular shows coming to the streaming giant in 2025, there’s almost no doubt that Netflix will take the opportunity to raise subscription prices by at least $1 or $2 per month.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”
DIRECTV STREAM launches smaller channel packages
When DIRECTV and Disney got involved in an ugly carriage dispute over the summer, one of the largest sticking points was the satellite company’s insistence that it be allowed to package Disney channels into smaller, genre-specific channel plans much like the likely-doomed Venu Sports. It eventually won that concession, though there has been no word from the company on what those plans will look like.
I think DIRECTV will launch its smaller, themed channel packages before the new year is out. The company might be waiting to get commitments from other content owners so that it can flesh out those packages, but that will likely come throughout 2025. I also think DIRECTV’s new channel options will be popular among customers, giving the satellite and streaming company the ability to sell plans equivalent to Sling TV’s slimmed-down channel packages for a price much lower than the $87 per month it charges for the cheapest DIRECTV STREAM plan.
DIRECTV
DIRECTV is one of The Streamable’s top choices for the best live TV streaming service overall in 2026, especially for users who want the most channels or want to watch the most live sports. With an unbeatable lineup of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels, three main signature packages, an unlimited DVR, and 20 simultaneous streams at home, DIRECTV remains a premier choice for any cord-cutter.