Research from Omdia, presented at IBC 2025 in Amsterdam, reveals a fundamental shift in the streaming media landscape, with major platforms transitioning from fierce competition to strategic collaboration, as Maria Rúa Aguete, Head of M&E at Omdia, described as “Streaming Love” – a new era of partnerships between previously competitive giants.
“The ‘Streaming Wars’ narrative is giving way to a more collaborative ecosystem,” said Rúa Aguete. “We’re seeing unprecedented partnerships between streaming giants and traditional broadcasters that benefit both sides while expanding content offerings for consumers.” Netflix Leading the Partnership Revolution
Netflix has emerged as a frontrunner in this collaborative approach, establishing several key partnerships:
- TF1 Aggregation Deal (June 2025): Netflix now integrates content from all five of TF1’s linear channels and on-demand content from the TF1+ platform directly within the Netflix interface
- Canal+ Partnership in Francophone Africa (June 2025): Extended European collaboration to one of Netflix’s weakest regions, leveraging Canal+’s dominant pay-TV network
- MBC Partnership in MENA (July 2025): Netflix content bundled with MBC Now, a newly launched IPTV product in Saudi Arabia
- Disney+ Expanding Through Strategic European Alliances
Disney+ has similarly embraced this partnership model across Europe:
- ITVX (UK): Content-sharing agreement to offer more British programming to Disney+ subscribers
- 2DF Studios/ZDF (Germany): Expanded collaboration bringing over 3,000 episodes and films of German content to the platform, including popular series such as Mountain Medic and Alpine Rescue
- Atresmedia (Spain): Integration of popular Spanish content, including Atresplayer originals and Antena 3 series
The research identifies several factors driving this partnership shift: “SVoD growth is stagnating globally, with single-digit growth becoming the norm by 2028,” Rúa Aguete explained. “Additionally, consumer adoption of multiple SVoD services has reached saturation, creating a self-bundling plateau.”
The data show that by 2030, telco bundling will account for 23 per cent of all SVoD subscriptions globally, with non-telco bundling accounting for another 10 per cent of subscriptions.
The numbers clearly demonstrate the power of these partnerships:
- In Spain, 90 per cent of SVoD users subscribe to at least one of Netflix or Prime Video
- In France, Netflix and Prime Video have partnered with top BVoD services
These partnerships create mutual benefits: local broadcasters gain access to technology and global reach, while streaming giants gain access to regional content and audiences.
“This interconnected media ecosystem represents a strategic pivot from direct competition to collaborative growth strategies,” concluded Rúa Aguete. “The ‘super-streamers’ emerging from these partnerships increasingly resemble Pay-TV 2.0, fundamentally changing how content reaches consumers worldwide.”
