Netflix Competitors Including Disney and Paramount Reportedly Lost Over $5 Billion in 2023

As it continues to feel like every major conglomerate under the sun is attempting to make its mark in the streaming wars, 2023 has shown how fierce of a fight it is to compete with Netflix. The world’s biggest streaming competitors are reported to have lost over $5 billion USD (around $6.6 billion CAD) from their respective services.

The latest report from Financial Times shines a pretty exposing light on companies attempting to take the streaming market share from Netflix. This includes the likes of Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Comcast and Paramount–all of which support their streaming service in the US and other global markets.

Heading into 2024, the aforementioned US entertainment titans are facing pressure to rework their business practices, scale back on production, and cut costs from their platforms. According to the report, Shari Redstone, Paramount’s billionaire controlling shareholder, is said to be conducting discussions to sell the studio. One company in the conversation of purchasing Paramount is Skydance, the production house behind Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and the Apple TV+ film The Family Plan.

It’s also being widely reported that Warner Bros. Discovery may look to merge with Paramount. Warner CEO David Zaslav is said to have met with Paramount chief executive Bob Bakish over lunch this month to discuss the possibilities. If the companies were to merge, it’d likely spark synergy between its respective Max and Paramount+ streaming services.

This year, Warner Bros. Discovery is said to have turned a small profit in its US streaming services in 2023. This was accomplished in part by axing a number of its series and licensing other properties out to Netflix. However, the company still reels with the reality that it lost more than two million subscribers in the second half of the year.

Disney is also grappling with the realities of owning and supporting its streaming service. It’s reported to have lost over $1.6 billion USD (roughly $2.1 billion CAD) from its streaming services within the first nine months of 2023. However, Disney saw subscriber growth of around eight million. Disney believes that it’ll turn a profit from Disney+ in late 2024.

Heading into 2024, it’ll be interesting to see what other measures the large entertainment conglomerates are forced to take in order to compete with Netflix.