I was a Netflix customer for years but canceled it last month because DH monopolizes the TV with YouTube. Apparently we are not the only ones.
The Streaming Wars Come Down to 2: YouTube v. Netflix
The two giant video companies have far different strategies, but the same goal: controlling your TV set.
By John Koblin, The New York Times, July 12, 2025
For many years, Netflix executives bristled at the notion that the company really had a rival. Not Hollywood powerhouses like Disney, nor tech giants like Amazon. Instead, Reed Hastings, the company’s co-founder, insisted at one point that Netflix competed with people’s desire to socialize, or to go to sleep.
But there’s no hiding from YouTube.
Netflix and YouTube are increasingly locked in a fierce battle for control over the television set, a rivalry that even Netflix’s executives can no longer deny…
The two accounted for 20 percent of all television viewing time in the United States in May — 12.5 percent for YouTube, 7.5 percent for Netflix, according to Nielsen. …
Both companies are competing from a position of strength. Netflix’s revenue in 2024 reached $39 billion, and it has more than 300 million global subscribers, more than any other streaming service. The company is also hugely profitable: Netflix had more than $10 billion in operating income last year.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, had revenue of $54 billion last year. The only media company with more was Disney. … [end quote]
Netflix is one of the “Magnificent Seven” that drove the SPX higher. It has a P/E ratio of 59.
Since YouTube is owned by Google it isn’t listed separately.
Netflix produces a lot of quality programming while YouTube is a pastiche that ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime. DH spends hours watching live court feeds and programs about repairing oscilloscopes which I can’t stand. (I bought him blue-tooth headphones so I don’t have to listen.) I watch YouTube for exercise videos, instructional videos and educational videos (such as history).
It’s possible that YouTube will chip away at Netflix enough to reduce its subscriber base significantly which would eat away at one of the 7 legs supporting the SPX.
Wendy