Who Won (and Lost) the Year in Streaming?

The Town with Matthew Belloni

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.3 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Matt is joined by Puck media correspondent Julia Alexander to recap the year in streaming, and hand out awards for Streamer of the Year, Most Disappointing Streamer, Show of the Year, Biggest Surprise Hit, and highlight the most interesting trends in streaming (01:48). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the 'Stranger Things' finale in theaters (28:45). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email us your thoughts! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thetown@spotify.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Julia Alexander Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Olivia Culpo here to tell you all about the launch of the new Abercrombie spring denim collection,
0:05.5	made the way denim should feel. Their denim has always been a staple in my wardrobe and has a wide range of fits,
0:11.4	styles, and washes. Every jean is available in both their classic fit and viral curve love.
0:17.5	Shop in the app, online, and in stores.
0:30.8	It is Wednesday, December 31st.
0:32.6	It's our last show of 2025.
0:33.6	Happy New Year.
0:36.9	It's been a kind of weird year in the streaming business.
0:41.6	YouTube has been the dominant story, of course. It really solidified its lead over subscription services and the time spent metric on TVs.
0:45.8	Made some big inroads on traditional content.
0:48.2	Exclusive NFL game and a deal to broadcast the Oscars.
0:51.5	The Oscars on YouTube starting in 2029. Netflix, the biggest paid
0:56.4	streamer at more than 300 million subscribers. It's certainly mindful of YouTube. Netflix started
1:01.0	going after podcasts, including some from The Ringer. Netflix still accounts for the majority
1:05.7	of the hit shows across streaming. About 66% of the original programs in Nielsen's top 10 lists are from Netflix,
1:12.9	according to Bloomberg. Still, Netflix no longer accounts for all of the hits, of course. In fact,
1:17.7	the biggest show of the year in the U.S. is on Disney Plus. The second biggest is on Hulu.
1:23.0	Every major streaming service can brag about some show in the top 10, although there were no new shows
1:28.5	among the Nielsen Top 10 streaming originals for the year, the first time that's ever happened.
1:33.1	Netflix's overall share of streaming viewership has dipped below 20% to its planned acquisition of HBO Max.
1:40.0	That's a sign of the times. There really is competition out there.
1:43.5	This time of year, there's a million stats flying around, a lot of it times. There really is competition out there. This time of year,
	...

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