The streaming video revolution is still in full flower — with the sector poised for healthy growth over the next five years, according to the latest projections from PwC.
The U.S. total over-the-top (OTT) market is projected to increase at a 5.9% compound annual growth rate over the next five years — reaching $112.7 billion by 2029, according to this year’s PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report. That would be up 33% from the segment’s $84.7 billion haul last year. The primary drivers of that are a growing subscriber base, new service launches and price increases, according to PwC’s analysis.
Overall, the U.S. remains the “largest and most influential” streaming video market globally, generating $61.9 billion in transactional and subscription VOD revenue in 2024, PwC’s 2025 Global E&M Outlook report said. That dwarfs the next-largest market, China, which generated revenue of $10.8 billion in 2024, making it less than one-fifth of the size of the U.S. market.
Despite being a mature market, the U.S. continues to deliver double-digit revenue growth, with subscription VOD revenue rising by 18.3% year-over-year in 2024 to $56.1 billion. The number of U.S. OTT video subscriptions rose by 9.5% in 2024, with revenue per subscription up by 8%.
Netflix, the industry leader in the subscription video space in the U.S., had nearly 90 million subs in the U.S./Canada as of the end of 2024, the largest subscriber base of any of its rivals. Netflix is the top investor in global streaming content with a $17 billion outlay in 2024; Paramount+ and Disney+ spent an estimated $5 billion each, according to the PwC report. (Disney’s total content spend in 2024 was estimated at $25 billion, 40% of which was on sports).
Going forward, direct-to-consumer streaming platforms will continue their focus on improving profitability in the “maturing” U.S. market, according to the PwC report. That will come through a mixture of pushing growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) via subscription price increases for ad-free tiers, wholesale arrangements, bundling, password-sharing restrictions, market expansion, and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) adoption — coupled with reducing operating costs (non-programming costs like marketing, technology, sales and administrative).
In the U.S., live sports was a strong acquisition driver for streamers in 2024. PwC cited notable sporting events including the 2024 Super Bowl, which resulted in 3.2 million new subscribers for Paramount+; the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, which drove 1.8 million new subscribers for Peacock; and the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight in November 2024, which yielded 1.4 million new subscribers for Netflix.
According to PwC, the free, ad-supported television (FAST) subcategory in the U.S. is set to grow faster than OTT overall. After generating nearly $4.9 billion in revenue in 2024, FAST services are projected to increase at a 13.8% CAGR over the next five years to reach $9. billion in 2029. Leaders in the FAST space are Paramount’s Pluto TV, Fox Corp.’s Tubi, the Roku Channel and offerings from smart TV makers like Samsung TV Plus, per PwC’s report.
“As major media companies recognize the value in ad-supported models, investments in content and technology are likely to increase, enhancing the quality and appeal of FAST services,” PwC said in the report. “FAST channels appeal to cost-conscious consumers amid rising subscription fees.”
Traditional TV, meanwhile, has been losing ground steadily to streaming alternatives. In 2024, total U.S. revenue from linear TV advertising and pay-TV subscriptions reached $126.1 billion — a significant 14% decline from $146.9 billion in 2020, per PwC’s estimates. The sector is projected to see a decrease of -5.4% CAGR through to 2029, which marks “one of the most pronounced declines among its global peers, highlighting the rapid pace of disruption in the U.S.,” according to the report.
In 2024, 41.1% of U.S. households subscribed to a traditional pay-TV service, a steep drop from 61.9% in 2020. By 2029, PwC projects, only 28.8% of American households will have pay-TV subscriptions. For operators, areas of potential growth are broadband services, sports programming and aggregation strategies.
For film, total U.S. box office revenue fell from $9.1 billion in 2023 to $8.9 billion last year, “but the drop was anticipated and not as steep as had originally been feared,” the PwC report noted, citing the production slowdown driven by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023.
In 2025, PwC projects that 110 films will be produced and released in more than 2,000 sites in North America, up from 95 in 2024. Studios’ “experiments with day-and-date releasing, making big blockbusters available on streaming platforms with little or no period of exclusivity in cinemas, have now been largely discarded,” the PwC report said. “This reveals a shift in the studios’ mindset and an acknowledgement that releasing in cinemas first is still regarded as the most-reliable way to drive ancillary sales.” Meanwhile, streamers involved in film production, like Amazon MGM Studios and Apple, are also committing to 45-day theatrical windows for their bigger titles.
Total U.S. cinema revenue (box office and cinema advertising revenue combined) is forecast to be $10.8 billion in 2029, representing a 3.9% CAGR over five years. Ticket sales in 2029 will be $9.8 billion — however, that’s still below pre-pandemic years, although an improvement over $8.1 billion in 2024.
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