Global technology research and advisory firm Omdia’s latest TV & Video market data shows global online video subscriptions reached 2.24 billion at the end of 2025, up 17.6 percent year on year from 1.9 billion in 2024. However, growth is expected to slow to single digits in 2026 as the market

entrs into a mature phase.

Meanwhile, global pay TV subscriptions continued a gradual decline, falling 1.8 percent year on year to 1.03 billion. The balance of the global TV and video market continues to shift toward streaming, with online video accounting for 68.4 percent of the combined 3.3 billion subscriptions worldwide, Omdia said in a media statement yesterday.

In terms of revenue, online video overtook pay TV for the first time in 2025. Online video revenue increased 13.5 percent to $176 billion, while pay TV revenue declined 4 percent to $170 billion. Both figures include subscription and transactional revenue but exclude advertising.

Omdia’s global data reflects a wide range of different trends taking place at the local level across the markets it tracks. A key common theme, however, is that new, lower cost, ad-supported tiers have been attracting new subscribers into the online video segment.

Adam Thomas, Practise Leader, media, Entertainment & Advertising, said: “The 17.6 percent increase in subscriptions in 2025 was the largest annual rise since 2021. That growth was driven, in particular, by subsidized ad-tier subscriptions offered by telcos and pay TV operators.

The popularity of these lower-cost offers is a key factor behind the fact that subscription numbers grew by 17.6 percent, while revenue increased by a more moderate 13.5 percent.

Another clear trend across the sector is that online video platforms are changing their focus from growing subscriber numbers to maximizing revenue from their existing client base, often through price increases for their premium, non-ad-supported tiers. This trend is expected to remain prominent in the years ahead.

While the 2025 figures show that discounted ad-tier pricing can attract significant numbers of cost-conscious subscribers into the online video ecosystem, this will be a short-term phenomenon. With several core online video markets approaching saturation, Omdia believes the focus on price rises to maximize profits will result in slower subscription, forecasting 5.6 percent growth for full-year 2026.

Tony Gunnarsson, Senior principal Analyst, TV & Online Video, added: “It’s clear that the availability of attractively priced ad-tier options created a temporary uplift in SVOD subscriber numbers in 2025. However, this has not changed our longer-term forecast, which remains for low single-digit annual growth rates for the foreseeable future.”