Millennials yield, Gen Z streams
A fresh study reveals who drives discovery and who really calls the shots in the living room
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This week, Europe’s media landscape felt busy on every front.
In this edition: 🇪🇺 Stream TV Europe 😋 Disney’s local play 🇳🇱 BBC NL & BBC NL+ 🎒 Netflix Kids shake-up 🌍 Canal+ scale math 📺 Operators beyond the box 🇫🇷 How France streams ☕ Introducing The Media Brew 👥 Gen Z vs Millennials
🇪🇺 Stream TV Europe
The call for speakers for Stream TV Europe is now open:
📅 Event Dates: April 13–15, 2026
📍 Location: EPIC SANA Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
🔗 Apply to Speak: https://bit.ly/46hvh8V
Based on these submissions, we will work with the STV team to program the general conference including the SME Live morning (taking place on April 13th). It may feel far away but the sooner you apply the better!
😋 Disney’s insatiable thirst for local content
Disney+ is on a shopping spree. After:
ITV (to launch “Taste of Disney+” & “Taste of ITVX”),
ZDF Studios (for a “ZDF Films and Series” hub),
Atresmedia (300 hours of its programming go to Disney+ in Spain but more interestingly Atresmedia’s new series “Mar Afuera” will premiere on both Atresmedia & Disney+ on Sept. 14th),
It’s time for ARD Plus classics to land on Disney+ and ProSieben’s new daily series to get an early-window streaming twist.
→ No matter what headwinds European broadcasters face, they still own assets competitors cannot clone, Disney+ definitely noticed.
🇬🇧 BBC goes local with BBC NL & BBC NL+
From BBC First to BBC NL, a “simple” rebrand signalling local relevance while keeping British DNA. The channel hit #7 in the Netherlands this summer. But the bigger play is BBC NL+, a new streaming service surfacing titles that may be “too niche” for linear but on-brand for BBC.
→ The power of events, I now got Bookish, Outrageous and Where the wild men are on my to watch list.
🎒Netflix Kids has a new #1
Big shift in the kids’ charts: Gabby’s Dollhouse is now the #1 kids show globally on Netflix and the timing couldn’t be better, the movie premieres this week. Even bigger: DreamWorks’ parent Universal now drives nearly a fifth of all kids’ engagement on Netflix (the Ranchet family has been watching the Despicable me franchise over and over again). Sequels dominate but originals like Ms. Rachel and K-pop Demon Hunters show new IP can still break through.
The insights come from the H1 2025 Netflix Kids Content Performance Report, the bi-annual study by Dublin-based consultant (and friend of Streaming Made Easy) Emily Horgan. Emily calls it “a dynamic period in the Netflix kids landscape,” with Netflix proving it can both launch preschool hits and fuel cross-age phenomena.
→ Find out why her independent report is becoming a must-read for every kids exec.
🌍 Canal+ hits 40M subs and counting
With MultiChoice locked in, Canal+ already spans nearly 70 countries. Add Viu into the mix (via a full takeover) and it could jump to 56.9M subs overnight. Viaplay? Still complicated. But Maxime Saada’s target of “50 to 100M” suddenly feels within reach.
→ Discover how Canal+ is piecing together its global puzzle but also check out the myriad of companies behind Multichoice. Canal+ has a lot on its plate now to bring the best of the two groups…
📺 Operators push beyond the Box
European Telecom Operators couldn’t care less about CTV 5 years ago. I know this first hand because I tried to get them to launch their apps on a CTV platform. At the time, all signals were green, they didn’t need to be on CTV.
Fast forward to today, they have started to prepare themselves for a boxless world, one where their customer relationship becomes device agnostic. Building their brands on CTV is their chance to keep the customer relationship and control the first click but entering the CTV arena means partnering with the very platforms they also compete against today.
→ Unpack the partnerships, risks and early proof points as Telcos enter their CTV era.
🇫🇷 How French stream
61% stream more than last year, 73% stream on CTV, 72% opt for co-viewing. Live sports are a goldmine: 51% recall ads better, 43% take action. And while few know about shoppable ads, nearly half who do have already clicked.
→ Read all the formats and moments where French viewers lean in. Our n°1 interest (cf. page 8) will not surprise you. Argh those French!
☕ Introducing The Media Brew
A new video series, in partnership with Bedrock Streaming, where top media execs (from Crunchyroll, Whale TV, ZDF Studios and more) and I drink coffee and talk shop. No panels, no press release lingo, just candid conversations about the business of streaming, straight from the RAI corridors.
→ Launching next week with a new episode dropping on LinkedIn every day at 2pm CET!
👥 Gen Z vs Millennials
New research from our friend at FX Digital dives into how viewing habits change as we grow up. Spoiler: the TV set never really loses its power, it just shifts in meaning. Who gives up the remote, who drives discovery, and how much control does anyone really have over the living-room screen?
🎥 Watch the FX Digital presentation during Streaming Made Easy Live → here
📑 Download the full report → here
🗳️Poll time:
That’s it for today. Enjoy your weekend and see you on Tuesday for a Deep Dive edition of Streaming Made Easy Premium.