The Streaming Scene: As An Even-Murkier Era Of Scant Subscriber Numbers Nears, Another Volatile Year Winds Down

deadline.com:

Keeping score in streaming – never an easy prospect given the amount of data hidden away in corporate black boxes – is about to get even tougher in 2025.

Netflix will stop reporting subscriber numbers (for more than a decade the ultimate metric in streaming) as of the upcoming January-to-March quarter.

The company says engagement time, operating profit and revenue offer better gauges of performance, calling the subscription tally “just one component of our growth.” The move will open the door for rivals to follow suit (and Apple and Amazon already have ample experience with burying their streaming results under layers of semi-related tech operations).

But before the fuzzier new era arrives, and along with it likely more bundling, M&A and large-scale live streams, it’s worth taking stock of the eventful year that’s now concluding.