• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 21, 2025

The business of U.S. movie and TV produced content -- theatrical films and TV series -- has been generally immune and absent from the tariff headlines in terms of U.S. industries.

Up until this time, all premium streamers must have been also immune to tariff issues to a great extent. But things may be changing.

Netflix is one of the companies that would be least affected by tariffs in the world, according to one analyst. And Netflix has pricing leverage.

And in addition, it has “hit show after hit show, according to Barton Crockett, media analyst of Rosenblatt Securities, who spoke on CNBC last Thursday.

All that means lower “churn” -- much less cancellation than other premium streamers. Crockett also says Netflix has strong “generational” subscribers -- which, in part, means young viewers.

But now there are other things to consider, even as the company believes it is “less exposed” than other streamers.

Word is that British lawmakers -- the Culture, Media and Sport Committee -- could be calling for a 5% tariff on foreign streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ to help its local movie and TV show productions.

The group is focusing on soaring production costs for its homegrown U.K. producers-- driven partly by U.S. streamers that also include Prime Video and Apple TV+ . The belief is this has negatively impacted content production at the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4.

As a result, there has been a decline of domestic production of British film and TV shows.

And that comes in the wake of big theatrical film-revenue generation films made in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The U.K. is not the biggest market for U.S. entertainment film makers. China is. It is where studios get around 10% of their overall global revenue. U.S. movie studios receive around 25% of overall China movie revenues.

Still, the U.S. movie business is at a surplus situation in trade when it comes to China movies airing in this country -- a rare positive dynamic for U.S. businesses with China.

Tariff issues between the U.S. and China could escalate, and then spill over into movies. That said, box-office returns have declined in recent years.

And now the U.K. has jumped into the fray. Could more countries do the same?