Hot List: Hooray for Hollywood
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” - Mark Twain
When we started TVREV a decade ago, all anyone wanted to talk about was the death of pay TV. And all we kept saying was, it’s not that simple.
As of 2025, the global market for pay TV is still $280 billion. There are still 65 million subscriptions paying $80ish/month to an MVPD in the U.S. That’s roughly the same number of accounts paying Netflix $20ish/month (38% of America for both). Not to mention all the new publisher direct subscription business that wasn’t there five years ago to HBO, Peacock, Disney/Hulu, etc.
What came that no one talked about or saw coming was an era of peak TV, with more choice and access for viewers than ever before, and a greater breadth of storytelling than ever in human history. It turned out that the death of pay TV was really a new life for TV and a bigger marketplace.
Hollywood’s movie business is following a similar trajectory. Ticket sales are half what they were in 2002. The golden age of cinema that had everyone/everywhere selling out theaters and crowding Blockbusters on a Friday night is gone and will not return.
But also, the formulas of sequels and remakes, “big blockbuster or bust” mentality seems to be shifting. Sure fandom still matters, but recently, Hollywood is taking more chances on what Hollywood does best, original screen plays, dramas, comedies and action that has both of those things. If the Oscars are any indication, that bet is paying off in terms of quality for viewing audiences and to some small extent a modest YoY bump for box offices.
It’s often called a do or die moment for the movie business. I would call it the birth of the next generation.
With AI’s video production capabilities growing by the day and the spending that goes to driving people to watch movies seeming more foolish by the day, the questions of what happens to the movie industry are countless.
Could it be that just like the death of TV gave rise to a more vibrant TV marketplace that movies find a new life in new ways? Or has that already happened and movies have melted into a TV experience and everyone better get used to it?
We are genuinely curious what you think. Let me know here.
