"As of March 2005, 10 million homes around the world were watching HDTV programming on a high-definition TV set. By the end of 2005, the worldwide total of these HDTV service households is projected to reach 15.5 million, reports In-Stat. The rate of growth of HDTV households will continue to be strong over the next several years, and by 2009, HDTV households worldwide are forecasted to reach 52 million, according to the high-tech market research firm. HDTV services are widely available in only five countries: Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States, and South Korea. There are currently 4 million HDTV households in the US, up from 1.6 million in March 2004."
The global streaming industry has spent the better part of a decade chasing subscriber counts as the primary metric of success. That era is now formally over. New market data from Omdia confirms that the industry has crossed a decisive threshold; one that shifts the competitive playing field from growth-at-all-costs to monetization discipline. For senior executives navigating media, advertising, and technology strategy, the implications extend well beyond entertainment. A Historic Revenue Crossover Online video revenue increased 13.5 percent to $176 billion in 2025, while pay-TV revenue declined 4 percent to $170 billion; marking the first time in the industry's history that streaming has surpassed legacy pay-TV in revenue terms. This is not a rounding error or a statistical artifact; it represents the culmination of more than a decade of structural disruption to the traditional broadcast and cable TV model. Global subscriptions to online video services reached 2.24 billion by the ...