Streamer Spend To Top $100B For First Time In 2026 – Report

Streamer spend on content is set to top the $100BN mark for the first time this year, according to an Ampere Analysis report.

The landmark figure will be met as global streamers “remain the primary driver of growth in content investment,” according to Ampere.

Spend by the likes of Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Apple TV will shoot up 6% this year, helping lead to a 2% increase in overall global content spend, Ampere forecast. The $101BN figure, the first time streamer spend has crossed that major $100BN landmark, will represent around two-fifths of the overall figure.

Despite a big year for sport incoming with the soccer World Cup in L.A. and Winter Olympics, which will help boost local networks, Ampere pointed to an expansion of sports strategy as a driver behind the streamers’ increased spend. The majority of the streamers are now playing in the sports game in a big way, with platforms such as Amazon’s Prime Video securing major NBA rights through 2026.

Overall, streamers are “scaling investment,” while local nets continue to face a wealth of challenges including rising costs, advertising headwinds and shifting post-pandemic viewing behavior. Last year, a similar piece of work by Ampere found that streamer spend was set to top commercial broadcaster investment for the first time in history.

Ampere research manager Peter Ingram said: “The accelerating shift in content investment toward streaming underscores a structural rebalancing of the global TV market, with scale and reach emerging as the central competitive differentiators for operators to remain buoyant.”