As streaming fatigue grows, platforms face a need to rethink strategy
The audience is fed up with an ever increasing flood of audio visual content. Platforms are producing massive weekly drops, yet experts warn the current model cannot continue unchecked. José Manuel Eleta, head of Barlovento, notes that subscription driven growth has reached a ceiling and urges a shift toward more traditional television approaches. This includes introducing advertising and rebalancing production plans, such as delivering fewer episodes per week, similar to a long form strategy that persistence viewers once found in classic television.
Leading global players in the sector are realizing that continued expansion requires diversifying beyond a single or narrow set of genres. The focus cannot stay solely on TV series and films. Content strategies need to embrace multiple formats if growth targets are to be sustained over time.
Joan Corbella, director of the UPF Audio-Visual Production Observatory, offers a critical perspective: the market cannot endure the sheer number of platforms that exist today. Consolidation may become a reality in the near future, with operators not just distributing but also producing content. In this model, the same company creates programming for several distribution channels, echoing a return to a more traditional television ecosystem.
Specifically, Warner and Disney have signaled movements toward cross platform availability. Warner and Disney are exploring how to monetize content by licensing series to other services, a pattern that could lower the cost of acquiring popular programs while expanding revenue streams for the rights holders. This dynamic creates a landscape in which the incentives favor collaboration and licensing over standalone production for every service.
Barlovento’s deputy director emphasizes that the trajectory for television points toward a hybrid future. The conventional screen remains central, but with new twists that reflect audience habits and monetization realities. A view supported by Corbella suggests that after a period of upheaval the industry may drift back toward an earlier television experience with curated and shared programming across platforms. The question remains whether some brands will be able to survive a market that favors efficiency and breadth, while others may exit the stage.
In this evolving environment, the line between streaming and traditional broadcast television is blurring. The emerging model favors content that travels across platforms and formats, rather than staying locked to a single home for an entire season. With licensing deals and strategic partnerships, the industry is moving toward a more interconnected system where distribution, production, and ownership coexist across networks and streaming services. This shift signals a broader move back to a more classic style of television, adapted to the digital era, with a focus on sustainable growth and shared value across players in the ecosystem.
Experts suggest viewers are best served by a diverse mix of formats, with shorter series, limited runs, and alternate distribution strategies. This aligns with producer considerations that prioritise efficiency and flexibility while still delivering on audience appetite for quality and variety. The coming years are likely to feature more collaboration, more licensing, and more experimentation as the market recalibrates around a multi format, multi platform reality. [Citation: industry analyses and statements from Barlovento and the UPF Audio-Visual Production Observatory]