Streamers to outspend commercial broadcasters on content for first time in 2025, says Ampere

Global streaming services will spend more on content than commercial broadcasters for the first time in 2025, according to new data from Ampere Analysis.

The London-headquartered research and analysis company said it expected streaming services, both ad-supported and ad-free, to spend around US$95bn on content this year.

That US$95bn represents 39% of the overall global total, compared with 37% spent by commercial broadcasters, 9% by public broadcasters, 8% by theatrical studios and 7% by pay TV networks.

Last year, streamers spent 38% of the total while commercial broadcasters spent 39%.

Successfully curbing password sharing and solid subscriber growth in 2024 has positioned streamers to “invest heavily in content” in 2025, claimed Ampere. At the same time, advertising revenue challenges linked to falling ratings will continue to impact US commercial broadcasters, though those outside the US “continue to show resilience.”

Overall global content spend will hit US$248bn in 2025, estimated Ampere, up 0.4% from US$247bn in 2024.

Despite the sweeping job cuts and streamlining of content slates, Ampere said the global content spend has increased every year for the past five. In 2021, global spend was US$227bn, climbing to US$241bn in 2022, US$243bnin 2023, US$247bn in 2024 and US$248bn in 2025.

Ampere research manager Peter Ingram said the company is forecasting that VoD services’ content spending will climb by 6% in 2025.

“The continued growth of VoD spend, combined with the more cautious outlook of linear broadcasters, highlights the shifting role of traditional television as viewer demand turns to digital platforms and streaming.”