• by Wayne Friedman , December 16, 2021

Global TV and movie productions' spending on premium streaming services -- now at around $140 billion -- are expected to rise on an annualized basis by 12% through 2025, soaring just north of $200 billion, according to Morgan Stanley.

Competitors to Netflix are racing to outspend the subscription video-on-demand service.

Overall, Walt Disney is expected to spend $33 billion in 2022 on all content -- streaming, legacy platforms, theatrical and sports programming. Comcast, $26.1 billion; WarnerBros Discovery, $20.2 billion; Amazon, $18.5 billion; Netflix, $17.3 billion; and ViacomCBS’ $15.3 billion.

Others stats include Fox, with $8.6 billion; Apple TV+ at $2.3 billion; Lionsgate with $1.4 billion, and AMC Networks at $1.1 billion.

Streaming revenues per company will continue to post high annual double-digit percentage hikes.

From 2022 to 2025, expect Netflix to see a 14% rise in global streaming revenues on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) -- the annualized average rate of revenue growth.

Competitors will see faster growth, with Disney at 22%; HBO Max, 28%; Roku, 21%; ViacomCBS, 20%; Discovery, 32%; Fox (Tubi), 26%; Peacock, 41%; AMC Networks, 34%; and Lionsgate, 19%.

Morgan Stanley analysts say: “Streaming top-line growth remains robust and many media companies expect losses to fade over time, ultimately leaving a profitable business.

"In the meantime, funding that growth are cash flows from the linear business. That business has benefited from an improving cord-cutting trend during the pandemic. However, that benefit appears to be fading in the second-quarter 2021.”