The Great Shift: Streaming Surpasses Cable in the Battle for Eyeballs

November 5, 2025

The way Americans receive television content has undergone a seismic transformation in the past 5 to 10 years. Once the unchallenged king of living rooms, traditional cable television is losing ground to the flexible, on-demand allure of streaming services. This shift has been driven by cord-cutting households ditching monthly cable bills for subscriber paid or ad-supported apps.  Many of these new streaming apps provide personalized playlists that are pushed to subscribers by sophisticated algorithms that are tied into user demographics and personal data/preferences mined by software that tracks everything from viewer habits to shopping lists. This phenomenon marks a cultural pivot from scheduled programming to viewer-controlled marathons, aka binge watching. As of 2025, streaming now accounts for over 45% of total TV usage in the U.S., leaving cable and over-the-air broadcast networks trailing at around 25% to 16% respectively.  But what does the data reveal about this exodus, and where is it headed next?

The Cord-Cutting Cascade: A Five-Year Decline in Cable Dominance

The numbers tell a stark story of attrition. U.S. cable television subscribers have plummeted by more than 15 million over the past five years, reflecting a steady hemorrhage fueled by rising costs and content fragmentation. In 2020, amid pandemic lockdowns that briefly buoyed viewership, cable still commanded 83.8 million households. By 2024, that figure had dwindled to 68.7 million—a 4.9% drop from 2023 alone. This annualized decline of roughly 5.8% underscores a broader erosion of pay-TV's market share, with traditional providers like Comcast and Spectrum reporting consistent quarterly losses.

Meanwhile, the ranks of cord-cutters—households that have severed ties with cable in favor of streaming—have swelled dramatically. Starting from an estimated 48.7 million in 2020, these digital nomads grew to 71.5 million by 2024, more than doubling since 2018 and outpacing total U.S. households in some demographics. Today, nearly 83% of U.S. adults report using streaming services, compared to just 36% who maintain cable or satellite subscriptions. This inversion highlights a generational chasm: among 18- to 29-year-olds, cable penetration has halved since 2015.

The chart below illustrates this divergence, plotting year-over-year changes in cable subscribers alongside the explosive rise in streaming-reliant households.

A Home With a Television Antenna

Over-the-Air Broadcast: The Unsung Hero in the Viewing Spectrum

Amid the cord-cutting frenzy, over-the-air (OTA) broadcast reception has emerged as a resilient, cost-free pillar in the diverse ecosystem of viewing options. Unlike cable or streaming, OTA allows viewers to access major broadcast networks—such as ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and PBS—via a simple antenna, delivering high-definition local news, sports, and entertainment without monthly fees or internet dependency. This traditional method, often overlooked in the streaming hype, complements digital alternatives by filling gaps in live content and emergency broadcasts, making it a hybrid favorite for budget-conscious households.

Recent data reveals a nuanced role for OTA in the cord-cutting era. While the overall share of U.S. homes equipped with TV antennas has declined from 32% in 2020 to 19% in 2025, the number of "broadcast-only" households—those relying solely on OTA without pay-TV or streaming subscriptions—has risen, reaching 16.3% of all U.S. TV households (approximately 20.2 million) as of July 2025, a 23% increase from 2024. This uptick, estimated at over 22.75 million households accessing OTA content, underscores its resurgence as a free alternative amid escalating cable bills and subscription fatigue. For many cord-cutters, OTA serves as an "anchor" service, providing essential live programming that streaming often lacks, such as local sports events or real-time news, while pairing seamlessly with ad-supported platforms for a low-cost, comprehensive setup.

Younger demographics are increasingly embracing OTA, with antenna usage among 18- to 49-year-olds growing 9% in the past year alone, driven by economic pressures and the appeal of free HD quality. However, challenges persist with key issues being diversity of content, signal reliability that varies by location, and the upcoming technical transitions that while on the one hand can promise access to 4K resolution, interactive features, and better mobile reception, but may also require new equipment and could disrupt access for some users during the rollout. In the broader spectrum, OTA's 16% share of TV usage highlights its enduring relevance, acting as a bridge between legacy broadcasting and modern streaming, ensuring accessible content for all socioeconomic groups and reinforcing the multi-platform nature of today's viewing habits.

Winners and Losers in the War for Viewers

As cable falters, streaming behemoths are feasting on the spoils. However, even the frontrunners aren't immune to turbulence. Netflix, the undisputed pioneer, ended 2024 with a record 301.6 million global paid subscribers, up 15.9% from 260.3 million in 2023 and more than 50% higher than its 203.7 million tally in 2020. This surge was propelled by hits like Stranger Things and password-sharing crackdowns, adding 41.3 million users in 2024 alone.

Netflix's Remains #1 but Suffers Recent Stumble: A Quarterly Dip in 2025

Yet, the Netflix momentum has faltered this year. In Q3 2025, Netflix reported its first net subscriber loss in over two years, shedding 1.2 million paid accounts worldwide—a stark contrast to the 5.1 million added in the same quarter of 2024. This brought the total to approximately 299.4 million by September's end, marking a 0.4% quarterly decline and prompting a 7% dip in the company's stock price in after-hours trading. Analysts had forecasted modest growth of 2 million, making the miss a wake-up call for the industry.

The decline isn't isolated; Q2 2025 saw only 2.8 million additions, well below expectations of 4.5 million, signaling a broader slowdown after years of double-digit gains. While Netflix still dominates with over 40% market share in premium streaming, these figures underscore emerging vulnerabilities in a maturing market.

Unpacking the Causes: Why Subscribers Are Fleeing

Several interconnected factors are eroding Netflix's subscriber base:

1. Intensifying Competition and Content Fragmentation: Rivals like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video are luring viewers with exclusive franchises—think Marvel and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. With households now juggling an average of 5.1 streaming services (up from 4.2 in 2023), "subscription fatigue" is rampant. A Deloitte survey found 42% of U.S. consumers canceled at least one service in the past year, citing overlapping content libraries.

2. Price Sensitivity Amid Economic Headwinds: Netflix's latest ad-free tier hike to $17.99/month in mid-2025 alienated budget-conscious users, especially as inflation lingers at 3.2%. The ad-supported tier, at $7.99, has grown to 45% of new sign-ups but hasn't offset churn; only 28% of lapsed users cited ads as a deal-breaker, per company data. Broader economic pressures, including stagnant wages and recession fears, have pushed 35% of millennials to downgrade or quit premium services.

3. Content Quality and Algorithm Fatigue: High-profile flops like the underwhelming Squid Game Season 2 rollout in July 2025 drew backlash for rushed production, while algorithm-driven recommendations feel increasingly generic. Viewer retention dipped 8% in Q3, with complaints about "filler" originals flooding social media. Netflix's pivot to live events (e.g., NFL games) has been a mixed bag, attracting 15 million one-off viewers but failing to convert them to subscribers. There has also been subscriber loss attributed to the introduction of what some consider “woke” content.

4. Regulatory and Global Challenges: Stricter data privacy laws in the EU and password-sharing enforcement backlash in emerging markets like India have curbed growth. In the U.S., antitrust scrutiny over content deals adds uncertainty, potentially forcing price concessions.

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Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged the "hump" in an earnings call, vowing to double down on unscripted hits and gaming integrations to stem losses. Still, with churn rates climbing to 4.5% quarterly, the streamer may need bolder bundling strategies to reclaim momentum.

Consolidation Frenzy: Do Mergers and Acquisitions Signal the TV Endgame?

The streaming wars have spilled over into a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions among legacy broadcasters, underscoring the brutal evolution of the viewing battlefield. In a landmark deal completed on August 7, 2025, Skydance Media merged with Paramount Global in an $8.4 billion transaction, injecting fresh capital and tech-savvy leadership from David Ellison into the storied home of CBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon. The FCC greenlit the merger after concessions on content diversity and local station commitments, but it capped a year-long saga marred by shareholder lawsuits and regulatory hurdles. This union not only bolsters Paramount+'s war chest for originals but also positions the combined entity to eye further expansion, with reports of a $58 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros - Discovery (WBD) already circulating.

There are several other mergers or acquisitions brewing that could impact media stalwarts such as CNN, MSNBC and many others.  These deals are quintessential symptoms of an evolving battlefield where fragmented audiences demand scale to combat streaming's gravitational pull. Traditional networks, once insulated by must-carry rules and ad monopolies, are hemorrhaging relevance as viewers flock to on-demand platforms—linear TV's share has shrunk to under 50% of viewing time.

Other Streaming Winners

Disney+ has carved out a family-friendly niche, boasting 127.8 million core subscribers by Q3 2025—though bundled offerings with Hulu and ESPN+ push the ecosystem to over 150 million subscribers. From a modest 73.7 million at year-end 2020, it peaked at 164 million in 2022 before stabilizing amid profitability pushes, with 2024 growth at around 12% year-over-year. Disney has been plagued with some serious failures in producing new original content in the form of live motion picture remakes of some of its cartoon classics.  Notable box office disasters include the Little Mermaid and Snow White.  Conservatives attribute the incorporation of wokeism into some of its new content as the reason for these failures.  Notwithstanding these stumbles Disney+ subscriber base remains strong.

YouTube, leveraging its free ad-supported roots, has quietly built a premium empire. YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Music subscribers have ballooned from an estimated 30 million in 2020 to 125 million by early 2025—a staggering 317% increase—fueled by ad-free / subscriber paid viewing and offline downloads appealing to mobile-first Gen Z users.

Other contenders are no slouches. Hulu, Disney's live-TV hybrid, grew from about 39 million paid subscribers in 2021 to 53.6 million in 2025, a 37% jump, thanks to next-day network episodes and bundling perks. Amazon Prime Video, often a Prime membership bonus, reached 210 million users in 2023 and climbed to an estimated 240 million by 2025, capitalizing on e-commerce loyalty with originals like The Boys.

Provider	2020 Subscribers (Global, Millions)	2024 Subscribers (Global, Millions)	YoY Growth 2023-2024 (%)
Netflix	203.7	301.6	+15.9
Disney+	73.7	~120 (core)	+12.0
YouTube Premium	~30	100+ (2024)	+25.0 (to 2025)
Hulu	~28	52.0	+8.6
Amazon Prime Video	~150	210	+14.3

Note: Figures are approximate year-end totals; Prime Video tied to broader Prime memberships.

Peering into the Crystal Ball: Forecasted Trends Through 2030

Looking ahead, the streaming tide shows no signs of ebbing. By 2026, cord-cutting households are projected to hit 80.7 million, surpassing pay-TV's 54.3 million and claiming nearly 60% of U.S. TV consumption. Global TV and video revenues are expected to balloon from $731 billion in 2025 to over $900 billion by 2030, growing at a 4.2% CAGR, with connected TVs driving 12.8% annual expansion to $531 billion in market value.

Yet, fragmentation looms large with the number of streaming providers expected to continue to grow, all of whom are fighting for digital content and subscriber relevance. Additionally, hyperscale social platforms like TikTok and YouTube shorts are expected to siphon anywhere from 20-30% of viewing time from long-form streaming by 2030, birthing a "social TV" market that could be worth $7.4 billion of annual revenue. Bundles and ad-supported tiers will proliferate, with 46% of premium services adopting cheaper, ad-light options to stem churn. By 2030, we can expect to see new immersive tech offerings enter the streaming marketplace.  These could include artificial/augmented/virtual reality enhanced live events.  One can imagine that streaming platforms could begin appearing on the horizon that allow viewers to virtually attend live events such as concerts and sporting events. 

One thing that is certain is that viewing consumption habits and methods will continue to change and the rise of software algorithms pushing content to subscribers is likely to remain supreme.