Six largest companies spend $126 billion, up 9%

Despite market challenges in TV and film production, the six largest global content companies – led by Disney – are expected to increase spending by a combined 9% by 2024, to a record $126 billion.

That estimate comes from a new report from the British research agency Ampere Analysis. The spending of the six companies – Disney, Comcast, Google, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and Paramount Global – will reach a new high in 2024, accounting for 51% of the total content spending landscape, up from 47% in 2020, according to Ampère.

Disney remains the largest contributor to the media landscape and is expected to represent 14% of global TV and film content investments by 2024. The Mouse House is expected to increase content spending to $35.8 billion this year, up about 27% from $28.3 billion in 2023. , per Ampere. Disney’s full acquisition of Hulu added $9 billion to Disney’s total expenses, according to the researcher.

For the full year 2024, Disney is followed by Comcast/NBCUniversal with an expected spend of $24.5 billion. The others are Google with $17.6 billion, Warner Bros. Discovery with $16.8 billion, Netflix with $16.0 billion and Paramount with $15.1 billion.

That said, Netflix is ​​the largest investor in global streaming content, with an average annual spend of $14.5 billion on original and acquired programming since the pandemic. Ampere expects further growth in Netflix’s content spend in 2025 through the acquisition of sports rights to NFL games and WWE’s ‘Monday Night Raw’.

In total, $40 billion of the six companies’ expected $126 billion in content spending is currently being spent on their subscription streaming services (including Disney+, Peacock, Max and Paramount+). Amid production shutdowns due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, streamers have continued to support the production landscape by “focusing on more global strategies,” Ampere said. For example, international (non-US) programming will account for 52% of Netflix’s 2024 spending and 40% of Paramount+’s. Such content is typically cheaper to produce and “effective at motivating new and niche audiences to subscribe to a platform,” the researcher said.

Original content spend remains the top spend type for these providers, accounting for more than $56 billion in investments and 45% of their total spend since 2022, per Ampere.

“We can expect the content landscape to see low growth in 2024 as production schedules recover from disruptions caused by the pandemic and writer and actor union strikes,” said Peter Ingram, research manager at Ampere Analysis. But looking ahead, “overall growth will stagnate as companies look to refocus production.” Ingram expects this to include limiting commissioning volumes and prioritizing strategic investments and profitability “to meet the current challenges of the media market.”

Ampere noted in its analysis that Google is different from the other five companies. The internet giant’s contribution to the content market comes through YouTube and investments in programming through its revenue-sharing arrangements with content creators. At the same time, YouTube continues to build its global presence through partnerships with major content owners, including the YouTube TV pay-TV service and the deal for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket football package.