Imagine you live in a world where everyone has access to the same information and entertainment at any time. For instance, if you are an Aussie, with the best Australian streaming services, you get tons of information about the cast, plot, and trailers, and you can watch them as soon as they are released. Yet, Cable TV is one step behind in the information. In this article, we’ll see what is the world streamed most in 2025 as the global top.
However, after a decade of explosive growth in streaming, it seems like everyone is watching shows and movies online, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon.
Since Covid-19 will keep everyone at home, that will only lead to numbers increasing as major studios move toward the all-streaming future.
What if I told you that by 2025 people around the world have streaming content more than they watch TV? Would you believe me?
World Streamed Most: A quick snapshot of the biggest winners and global top
Use this table to scan the headline champs across formats. Labels are plain on purpose. You can paste this straight into your editor.
Category | Notable global winner in 2025 | Where it happened | Why it mattered | Stat or milestone |
---|---|---|---|---|
Overall series engagement | Bluey topped total viewing minutes during the first half of the year | Global streaming charts and household panels | Proved that short episodes and family friendly storytelling can dominate time spent | Multi billion minute totals across winter and spring |
Top original series momentum | Squid Game surged back to the first slot among originals after a major midyear return | Platform top ten lists and originals rankings | Showed the long tail power of high stakes genre when a new season arrives | Weekly leadership across many countries after release |
Most watched subscription film | KPop Demon Hunters held the crowd on the largest subscription service | Weekly global film charts | Confirmed that stylish animation and music culture mashups travel fast | Maintained top position across several weeks in late summer |
Record breaking music moment | Blinding Lights reached an unprecedented lifetime stream count | Global audio streaming dashboards | Reminded everyone that catalog now behaves like a living product with new peaks years later | First widely recognized track to pass the five billion stream mark on a single major platform |
All time open video dominance | Kids content and global pop stayed on top of worldwide leaderboards | Open video platform leaderboards | Reinforced that repeat family viewing drives astonishing volume at scale | Children’s songs and pop anthems continued to own the all time list |
Streaming share of TV time | Streaming approached about half of total television viewing in many markets | Cross platform viewing meters | Confirmed streaming as the default habit for home screens | Close to one in two minutes of TV time credited to streaming during midyear reads |
2025 leaders by service
Service | Headline metric in 2025 so far | Standout title | Why it mattered | Verifiable figure |
---|---|---|---|---|
Netflix | Platform share of U.S. TV time rose to a record within The Gauge, momentum carried by originals and films | Squid Game returned with heavy July viewing; KPop Demon Hunters led films | New chapters of known worlds still move culture, while animated crossovers travel across regions | Netflix reached 8.8 percent of total TV viewing in July; Squid Game drew about 5.4 billion viewing minutes that month; KPop Demon Hunters ranked No. 1 film and became Netflix’s most popular film by total views. |
Disney+ | Family co viewing dominated total minutes | Bluey | Short episodes, enormous library, repeat friendly storytelling that parents trust | More than 25 billion minutes streamed from January through June. |
YouTube | The top media distributor on the television screen in the U.S. this summer | Baby Shark Dance remained the most viewed video on the platform worldwide | Open video owns habitual viewing; kids and global pop fuel repeat plays | YouTube captured about 13.4 percent of TV viewing in July; Baby Shark topped about 16 billion views. |
Prime Video | Strong first half among originals | Reacher | Lean seasons with tight episode counts can still stack minutes | Reacher finished H1 as the No. 2 original with about 13.3 billion minutes. |
Peacock | Reality and family films produced surges | Love Island USA and The Wild Robot | Summer reality drives daily repeat viewing; family films convert rewatch | Love Island USA logged about 5.3 billion minutes in July; The Wild Robot amassed about 3.8 billion H1 minutes across windows. |
Paramount+ | Western and action fueled momentum | 1923 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Franchise universes keep minutes high between tentpoles | 1923 reached about 8.5 billion H1 minutes; Sonic 2 around 3.7 billion across its licensed placements. |
Max | Prestige drama with smaller footprints still cracked the H1 charts | The White Lotus | High completion plus cultural chatter offsets fewer episodes | About 11.5 billion H1 minutes with a 21 episode library. |
Apple TV+ | Quality biased originals punched above footprint | Severance | High intensity return seasons create outsized engagement | About 9.3 billion H1 minutes as a top original. |
Spotify | Record breaking catalog and historic growth in users and subscribers | Blinding Lights milestone | Catalog behaves like a living product; playlists and live cycles extend life | First song to cross 5 billion Spotify streams on August 31; Spotify reported 696 million MAU and 276 million subscribers in Q2. |
Apple Music | Daily global chart continued to set the conversation | Top 100: Global | Fast moving global ranking useful for release timing and creative optimization | On September 3, the No. 1 track on Apple Music’s Top 100: Global was “Golden,” visible on Apple’s live chart page. |
How Does This Affect Our Lives? World Streamed
People are all looking for new ways to spend their free time, and as streaming services continue to grow in fame, they’re starting to replace cable TV.
Some of these services are already household names like Netflix and Stan, but others are getting their feet wet in the realm of on-demand entertainment.
However, during the pandemic where streaming services are becoming the preferred platform for most people, it’s no surprise that traditional cable is in decline.
With so many services available now, this trend doesn’t change anytime soon. In contrast to this outlook, we have put together a list of the top five alternatives to cable TV you should be watching in 2025.
The Biggest Winners of 2025; Top 5 Streaming Services
Streaming services are becoming increasingly popular. Moreover, many people have already switched to these modern technologies and they, therefore, demand special attention.
Today, we will discuss the five most popular streaming services. So let’s get started!
YouTube Premium World Streamed
To contend with other streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix, YouTube decided to create its premium service, YouTube Premium.
It’s fully integrated into the regular YouTube app and offers original content from popular creators like PewDiePie.
Today’s YouTube is a hotbed for creativity, and its users are going crazy for premium content. As a result, the YouTubers are making a killing by producing their content and selling merchandise and tickets to live events.
- Price: $12 per month
- Free Trial: 30 Day – Premium
HULU/Live TV World Streamed Most & Global Top
HULU is a great streaming service for TV shows and movies. But it’s also great for live TV, which has become the hottest part of the market.
HULU Live combines your favorite on-demand shows with access to over 50 top live TV channels. That’s why Hulu is now the #1 live-streaming service in the US.
The company will offer over 50 channels at launch and feature ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and local affiliates.
- Price: $6 – $65 per month
- Free Trial: 30 Days – Basic, 7 Day for Live TV
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon is one of the biggest names in the business world and has consistently made the most of its opportunities. They have expanded their services over the years that has helped them to develop a fantastic reputation. so, one of the most-streamed contents & global top.
Amazon Prime Video is another service they decided to launch that has been a complete success since its inception.
There are many streaming services, but Amazon Prime Video is one of the best. The service has attracted millions of people and created hype for Prime subscriptions.
- Price: $9 per month
- Free Trial: 30 Days
Disney Plus
Disney is a media and entertainment giant, but many people do not realize the enormity of the company.
When the new service launched in the fall of 2019, the company pulled its movies and shows from Netflix. Then, it began producing its content exclusively for Disney Plus.
Disney Plus has quality original movies, TV shows, spin-offs of popular franchises. Moreover, it also streams content from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and National Geographic.
- Price: $8.99 per month
- Free Trial: 7 Days
Paramount Plus World Streamed
The growth of in-home viewing is increasing at a rapid rate. This trend is due to the convenience of catching up on shows whenever you want and not going out to see movies or TV shows.
Companies like Paramount Plus are capitalizing on this trend and made huge strides towards becoming a popular streaming service in 2025. This new streaming service is an all-in-one solution for entertainment seekers.
Users have access to watch all the movies they want. Interestingly they can also stream any song they choose and play any video game they fancy, all at their fingertips.
- Price: $5 or $50 per month with the Annual Plan
- Free Trial: 7 Days
World Streamed Most & Global Top: Wrap Up!
The popularity of streaming services is growing rapidly among users. However, in contrast to this, it is more likely that this trend is expected to continue as people seek new and convenient ways to consume media.
This article has provided interesting information regarding streaming services, such as their popularity in 2025. However, there’s still a lot of data that we can explore based on the topic.
The times are changing, and the world has shifted its attention to streaming services like Netflix, HULU, and Amazon Prime. So what will come in 2026?