👑 One label to rule them all
A stunning twist to see the smaller service swallowing the stronger one
Streaming Made Easy is funded by direct subscriptions from readers like you. If you enjoy this weekly breakdown, consider becoming a Premium subscriber for longer essays and event perks 🫶
📆 Streaming Made Easy After Hours
Join me on November 20th (5-8 pm CET) at Restaurant EAST / Hotel Casa Amsterdam for the Winter edition of Streaming Made Easy After Hours, an intimate meet up (🎟 30 € cover charge for drinks & bites) around one question: how do we actually use AI in Media & Entertainment?
Expect a fireside chat (w/ Martin Prins from Media Distillery & Chris Van Der Linden from Liberty Global), networking amongst your local peers and plenty of real talk about the state of AI in M&E.
👉 Register here → lu.ma/awq1blpf
🏰 Disney+ France hits 9.5 M MAUs
Nothing like AVOD tiers to push streamers to be transparent about their local MAU count! The 1st numbers from Mediamétrie’s cross-media measure puts D+ at 9.5M MAUs.
Two years after launching its ad-tier, half of Disney+ France’s subscribers now watch with ads, with 300+ advertisers onboard. CPMs average €20–25 (versus 40€ at launch) and co-viewing drives +73 % recall.
Dig deeper into the D+ strategy in France, their demo profiles and more here.
🏁 The US Creator Economy gets inspired by France
NASCAR 25 borrows the blueprint of Squeezie’s GP Explorer, turning a French creator concept into an American franchise.
From Popcorn to Zen, from Paris Creator Week to Kaizen on Hulu, the French creator scene is exporting formats, not just talent. It’s collective energy: agencies, platforms and partners building the next global playbook.
🎥 Europe’s Cinemas go data-driven
Europa Cinemas’ Valladolid Innovation Lab (Oct 30–Nov 1) explored how AI, data and subscription models can future-proof exhibition. Watch out for:
→ Jon Barrenechea unveiling a Europe-wide study on cinema subscriptions (with Cineville which I love and use weekly!).
→ Mark de Quervain on AI for indie cinemas, with practical cases from Estonia & Croatia.
And more.
👉🏻 Catch up on all the sessions. Thanks to Guillaume Branders for the recommendations.
🇨🇦 When Legacy Media meets Free Streaming
Bell Media becomes Tubi’s exclusive Canadian ad-sales partner, merging Tubi’s 1-in-3 adult reach with Bell’s national footprint (98 % of Canadians).
The pact adds Bell Media FAST channels (CTV News, TSN The Ocho, Corner Gas, etc.) and co-production plans for global distribution.
For advertisers: a single premium video marketplace. For both partners: scale meets local depth.
As much as the media wants to pit legacy players and streamers against each other, success lies more and more in playing each other’s strengths.
🎭 Netflix × TF1: a cross-platform soap that didn’t stick
“Tout pour la lumière”, the first daily fiction co-produced by Netflix & TF1, won’t get a Season 2.
Despite early buzz and a clever windowing strategy (episodes dropping on Netflix five days before TF1), viewership stalled at ≈ 800 K a day, far behind “Demain nous appartient” 2.2 to 2.3M viewers per airing.
It was meant to prove broadcast + streaming synergy. Let’s try again soon, shall we?
💸 SkyShowtime’s billion-euro lesson
Paramount & Comcast have poured $1 billion+ into SkyShowtime, yet the European JV has lost €1.3 billion since launch.
Revenue (€275 M in 2024) is rising but the platform’s 6.2M users (according to Omdia’s estimates) and 250-person team are still searching for momentum. Analysts now bet Paramount will buy out Comcast’s stake turning SkyShowtime into Paramount+ Europe.
💥 The end of HBO Max?
According to The Desk, if Paramount’s David Ellison gets his way, HBO Max could disappear folded into Paramount+ if his bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery goes through.
It would be a stunning twist: the smaller service swallowing the stronger one.
→ HBO Max → 125.7 M global subs across 90 markets;
→ Paramount+ → 78 M subs, present in 45 markets.
HBO Max also outperforms in streaming revenue ($2.8B vs. $2.18B) last quarter. Yet Ellison’s logic is brutally simple: you can’t scale two brands and win.
The move would effectively erase one of the strongest global streaming labels, betting that consolidation beats legacy. Wrong move David, wrong move…
P.S: Love this graphic created by the team at The Desk, spot on guys 😁
🗳️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.