The Data Behind L.A.’s Lagging TV Production
One major factor underlying Los Angeles’ much-discussed production exodus is Hollywood’s ongoing production contraction. Total U.S. TV premieres, as tracked by Luminate, have dropped each year since 2022, which continues to stand as the final high point of peak TV. The problem facing L.A.’s local industry is not just less content being made in the city […]
How a Paramount-WBD Merger Could Create a Streaming Powerhouse
With the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger having recently cleared another hurdle, the combination of two more major Hollywood studios is that much closer to becoming reality. In light of this, it’s worth considering what this pair-up would mean for the content landscape, particularly with regard to streaming. It’s no secret that a major motivation behind […]
Why Top 2026 Series Prove Streaming Originals Are Going Back to the Future
With a massive swell in viewership around its finale, The Pitt Season 2 is now the most-watched streaming original TV season by viewing time so far this year, according to Luminate Streaming Viewership (M). Much has been made about how the series is a medical procedural, a genre that has been a decades-long fixture on U.S. broadcast networks, and […]
How New Franchise Releases Drive Legal and Illegal Streaming
You might assume that piracy is a major concern only for the latest Hollywood hits. But that’s not the case, especially when it comes to long-running franchises. Exclusive data shared with Luminate by the research firm MUSO, which focuses on global piracy consumption, shows that a new entry in a major film franchise often inspires increased […]
How Sports Are Helping Peacock Originals Fly Higher
Turns out hosting the two biggest sporting events of the year can be a real boon for your streaming service. It’s perhaps unsurprising that NBCUniversal’s Peacock racked up major wins in the month it carried both the Super Bowl and the most-watched Winter Olympic Games in over a decade, not to mention a massively watched NBA All-Star […]
How On-Screen Diversity Is Changing Inside and Outside Hollywood
Since the second Trump administration took office just over a year ago, a prevailing narrative in Hollywood has already taken shape: Studios are swiftly dismantling the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that spread through the industry in the wake of #MeToo and the 2020 racial reckonings. These changes are difficult to quantify, but the available data shows that, […]
How Season-Over-Season Growth Measures Success in Streaming
With U.S. content’s contraction over the last few years, success in the streaming TV game is no longer about sheer volume but rather how platforms cultivate and sustain audience relationships with series over time. Indeed, viewership patterns at Netflix help to illustrate this point, as the streamer has maintained a robust output level in the […]
How Netflix’s Streaming Dominance Ebbed in 2025
It’s clear that Netflix remains the leading streaming platform. But when looking at the latest data, it’s equally clear that the service has seen its dominance begin to slip. As explored in Luminate’s 2025 Year-End Film & TV Report, the most-watched streaming original TV season of the year (by viewing time) did not come from Netflix […]
‘Stranger Things’ Viewership Is Huge — But Beware the Decay Curve
The long-awaited return of Stranger Things near the end of 2025 has brought the blockbuster sci-fi title roaring back into the top ranks of original streaming series viewership. Per Luminate Streaming Viewership (M), in just six full weeks of availability (including the first week of January 2026), Stranger Things’ fifth and final season accrued more minutes of viewing in the U.S. […]
Why ‘Percy Jackson’ Won’t Ease Disney+ Engagement Woes
The return of a successful original series in December provided a glimmer of hope at the end of a challenging year for Disney+. That would be YA adaptation Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a show that, at the time of its debut, seemed to point the way forward for a platform laboring to move past its Star Wars and Marvel-related struggles. […]