January 7, 2026, 9:53 am | Read time: 6 minutes
The promise of streaming sounded so good, so logical. Instead of going to the cinema or video store or hoarding countless DVDs and Blu-rays, just sit on the couch, turn on the TV, and enjoy the best movies and series directly. No friction, no waiting, instant gratification in blockbuster or binge format. That was fine as long as the market remained manageable. But that’s long gone. Suddenly, the offerings have become what they were never supposed to be, and I think streaming services today are downright consumer-unfriendly.
Streaming—Ever More Expensive and Now With Ads
For most, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+ are still the ultimate in entertainment. Anyone who loves movies and especially series simply can’t avoid a streaming service. And it seems to save not only time and effort but also money. Having numerous titles to choose from for a relatively low monthly fee sounds like an outstanding deal.
But the market has changed in recent years. Prices are rising at regular intervals, and now there are even plans with ads—something that was unthinkable until recently. After all, the absence of commercial breaks, as is normal on linear TV, was also a major advantage of VoD. Now, if you want to get rid of them, you have to pay more. If you want to spend as little as possible, you have to accept them.
Too Many Providers Spoil the Fun
However, I see the biggest problem in the increasing fragmentation of the market. In the early days, a Netflix subscription was completely sufficient. But since then, the market has been constantly growing. International platforms such as Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, or Apple TV have been added. In addition, local offerings like RTL+, Joyn+, or the public broadcasters’ media libraries followed—and these are just the better-known providers on the market. Soon, another global player, HBO Max, will enter Germany.
The result: The offering has reversed. Due to exclusive rights on many movies and series, more and more titles are migrating to more and more platforms and staying there. Where few providers once showed many titles, there is now essentially less to see on many streaming services. This trend will continue for the time being. If you want to watch a specific movie now, you have to hope that it’s on a service you subscribe to.
If not, you either miss out or switch services. Nowadays, it’s common for fans to subscribe to multiple streaming providers simultaneously to avoid missing anything. For example, my colleague Marlene spent 875 euros on streaming alone in 2024—I hope she has since canceled some subscriptions. To be fair, Marlene is quite the avid streamer.
Frustrated Fans Find Alternatives
In sum, streaming has become an expensive hobby that no longer provides the same access to content as before. Streaming services have thus become significantly more consumer-unfriendly. And aside from exclusive titles, the advantages over traditional television are also diminishing.
Instead of jumping between logins, you simply flip through channels, which is a relaxing activity in its own right. And access to TV programming is essentially the same for most people with a TV set and a connection.
The latest developments are causing increased dissatisfaction among fans. Although companies tirelessly communicate new success stories, illegal streaming and digital piracy have “dramatically” increased, as reported by experts at Panda Security. People are fed up with the market—and so am I.
Role Model Physical Media?
As a collector of Blu-rays and a gamer, I’ve often wondered why the days of common industry standards seem to be over. The fragmentation of the streaming market is reminiscent of the video game industry, where companies like Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft have always vied for followers with their own hardware and exclusive games. Third-party titles must be laboriously ported to different systems, which means extra effort for a game.
But why can’t a game just work on all systems? Although there have been competitive battles with physical media in the past, such as between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, and in the ’70s and ’80s, there was the so-called format war between different video playback systems. But in the end, there was always a clear winner: the VHS cassette, for example, or the Blu-ray.
As a result, manufacturers agreed on a common standard. Consumers could then decide for themselves whether they needed a premium playback device with many features or not. There was something for every budget, but one thing was and is always guaranteed: access to entertainment across all platforms.
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The Gaming Industry Is Also Called Upon
Former PlayStation chief Shawn Layden sees it similarly in a conversation with the YouTube channel Pause for Thought. While he acknowledges the value of exclusive titles for a console, it’s already noticeable how the once-rigid ecosystem is softening. More and more often, Sony developments are also landing on the PC and even Xbox, or vice versa.
To ensure long-term growth, Sony must allow other companies to manufacture PlayStation-compatible consoles, as this would bring its format into even more households. That’s why Sony lost to VHS with Betamax back then: There were many VHS manufacturers, while Sony exclusively manufactured and distributed Betamax.
In the long run, the gaming industry must move toward a common format, “and maybe it will come from the PC.” Then a consortium could form around it, which would design licensing programs for manufacturers who could then build for this format. This would lead to ubiquity in households, similar to that of a toaster.
Something Has to Change
What a common standard for streaming would look like and whether it could even work remains questionable. For me, it’s clear that something has to change. In many ways, physical media made it easy for movie and series fans. Unless you were into expensive and obscure imports and thus faced the challenges of regional codes, you generally didn’t have to worry about compatibility and accessibility.
This aspect has been lost on the various operators, which is why I now find streaming services consumer-unfriendly. But who knows, maybe the market will shrink: Netflix is planning to buy Warner Bros. and will then almost certainly show “The Lord of the Rings” or “Harry Potter” exclusively. Also, Hulu, one of the oldest streaming services in the U.S., is now a firm part of Disney+. It’s unclear what will become of HBO Max, Warner’s own streaming service.
Consolidations are generally viewed skeptically because too much market power is concentrated in one company. This can then make more demands with less competition and put pressure on the industry. And the Netflix-Warner deal, in particular, could mean a rude awakening for cinema and physical media. But streaming fans will have one less service to chase after. At least.