The Biggest Challenges Facing Streaming Services in a Global Audience

Getting viewers around the world has not been easy for streaming companies. Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) revenues were expected to reach more than $165 billion worldwide by the end of 2026, and the industry has also become very fragmented, with over 200 different streaming platforms vying for viewers’ attention. 

Businesses must invest more resources in production, have to navigate regional licensing laws, contend with customer churn, and deal with various technical challenges across countries. These pressures not only impact profitability, but also influence the viewing habits of millions of users, creating a more complex path for sustainable growth, beyond just a focus on new subscriber acquisition.

Technical Performance Can Vary Based on Location

Even with the platform license, different locations will have different technical performance. There are many factors that can impact streaming quality, including network congestion, internet routing, quality of public Wi-Fi connection and ISP traffic management. Internet service providers are known to throttle internet data to prevent heavy use from activities such as streaming video; this is a problem many users have encountered.

For many viewers, the answer is to utilize a well-known VPN, which can assist you in shielding your internet traffic from being detected as streaming. Certain services also provide additional networking features for users who are looking for a more stable connection. For instance, PIA offers flexibility for setting up your subscription, and you can add a dedicated IP to your Private Internet Access plan if that configuration better suits your needs. 

Though a service can’t promise faster performance in all situations, these are frequently employed by those looking to get a more stable connection while streaming on networks with varying bandwidths.

Market Saturation Is Making Growth More Difficult

The fast-growing streaming industry has made it more difficult to get new subscribers to sign up, and the cost of which is increasing. Industry data shows that businesses are now paying a lot of money to acquire customers, as well as investing more in original programming. 

It’s easy to see how costly the competition has become, as Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, Comcast and YouTube spent approximately $126 billion on content in 2024. Subscriber churn has also become a critical business issue. 

AlixPartners’ research revealed that 42% of subscribers cancel and restart their services regularly, switching between platforms based on the exclusive release or promotion. The cycle results in more volatile revenue streams and leads providers to update their catalogs continuously. Consequently, streaming studios will have to be mindful of investing in quality content while ensuring they can still offer value to viewers in an increasingly competitive space.

Regional Licensing and Localization Add Another Layer of Complexity

Internationalization is more than translation of menus and subtitles. Streaming companies need to secure regional licenses, adjust their show catalogs to local laws, dub and subtitle the shows and customize their offerings based on viewers’ tastes.

The expectations of consumers also differ widely across countries. High-performance content for North America can have a completely different impact in other regions, and providers must tailor their marketing strategies and content to suit local audiences’ preferences. Industry analysis also lists localization as one of the key challenges in global streaming operations.

Further challenges for international expansion exist due to infrastructure differences. Different regions have varying bandwidth quality, mobile coverage, and internet stability, which makes it challenging to provide an acceptable playout quality. In order to provide a reliable service into these and other environments, constant investment in content delivery networks, encoders, and regional infrastructure is necessary. 

Too Much Choice Can Reduce Viewer Satisfaction

An expanding number of streaming platforms has created an unexpected challenge: content discovery. Research highlighted by AlixPartners found that viewers spend more than 11 minutes on average deciding what to watch. At the same time, only 28% of Americans and 21% of Europeans believe they can easily find something to watch across available services.

Subscription fragmentation also increases monthly costs. As individual services continue raising prices, many households rotate subscriptions rather than maintaining several at once. This behavior contributes directly to subscriber churn while making audience retention more difficult for providers.

Recommendation algorithms help surface relevant content, but they cannot solve the broader issue of fragmented catalogs spread across dozens of separate applications. As more exclusive licensing agreements emerge, finding a single title often requires checking multiple services instead of one unified platform.

Bundles May Help, But They Are Not a Complete Answer

Many companies have gone back to “mixed-bundling” to combat the increasing downward trend in subscription rates and customer churn. In 2024, AlixPartners documented over 2,000 telecom and online video distribution partnerships globally, up from around 1,200 in the year before.

These packages are designed to bundle multiple packages together that are paid for in a single subscription, with or without broadband or mobile. They can help to reduce consumer costs, but they also create additional complexities. Some other applications, accounts, and content libraries might still be needed due to regional licensing agreements.

Bundling is a good way to keep customers and provide them with new distribution points for streaming services, but it won’t address market saturation, licensing, technical uniformity, or content discovery problems. 

The industry is dynamic, and continued success will depend on striking a balance between profitability and delivering an accessible, reliable, relevant, and cross-audience viewing experience. 

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