By Beth Nugent, Third Year, Film and Television
Just when we thought Netflix had secured their place on the throne as the winner of the streaming wars with their recent acquisition of Warner Bros., a recent report from JustWatch suggests that its position might be under imminent threat, and Netflix’s rise to popularity could mean they become the modern day icarus…
Long gone are the days of nearly breaking every bone in your body whilst running to the bathroom in between ad breaks so you don’t miss your favourite TV show; now the world of television and film is run by streaming services. No longer do you cancel plans with friends because your favourite show is on every Thursday at 7pm, instead it’s ready whenever you are, on your phone, laptop, or Fire TV Stick.
It began back in 1997 when Netflix was founded by two entrepreneurs Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings. The company began as a DVD rental postal service, where you’d simply go onto their website, choose a film, and it would be delivered to your door by your regular postman. After turning down Jeff Bezos's offer to buy early in 1998 for $16 million, Netflix has evolved dramatically since then, creating an online library of over 5,000 films and 2,500 TV shows, spanning over several decades. It was the first of its kind, the streaming service that everyone loved, and it consistently beat out those that appeared in the years following in numbers. However, this may all change quite soon with now only 1% in between Netflix and Disney+.
According to JustWatch’s survey of over 3million viewers in the UK, in 2025’s fourth quarter, Disney+ rose to 23% of the market share, overtaking Amazon’s Prime Video, which holds 22%, and Netflix just clinging onto its 1st place with 25%. With such a small gap between the top three, every move these companies make could make or break their share, and it seems that Netflix is reacting to the threat of Disney+ with one of the boldest moves to acquire Warner Bros.
With an already extensive catalogue, adding the entire Warner Bros. filmography may seem like a smart business move, but it may not be enough to save them from falling into the dreaded second place.
One of the main issues with being the market lead is that there’s nowhere for you to go; the audience has decided that you're the best, and so it is hard to improve. Whereas Disney+ can excel and climb the rankings because they aren’t first, they have the opportunity to grow, change, adapt and make mistakes without affecting them too much. All this to say, the fall from number 1 is a lot harder than the fall from number 2.
Aside from the main competitors, the report shows an interesting increase for ITV, with a 7% share of the market. An Increase of +1 pp year-on-year, showing positive trends for live television again. Whilst the most successful live show was the Celebrity Traitors (2025) with an average of 12 million viewers residing on the BBC, ITV have been creating a strong library of beloved shows and this could be the reason why we are seeing an impact on their streaming reports.
Shows like Love Island (2015-), Race Across the World (2019-), Married at First Sight (2015-), all are ITV’s own shows, and it seems the audience loves them. In addition to this, on the 3rd of February ITV announced a partnership with Banijay Rights, giving them access to titles such as Peaky Blinders (2013-), Would I Lie to You (2007) and Masterchef (1990-). These major titles will surely impact streaming numbers and keep ITV on track for its ascent in the ranks.
Katerina Ralli
The world of streaming is ever-changing, and every service is constantly attempting to forge new paths to capture an entirely new audience demographic, with Netflix dabbling in prescheduled live entertainment, you have to wonder how long will it be until we circle back to the archaic scheduled live tv?
Featured Image: Shutter Speed / Unsplash
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