Streaming companies cut scripted TV commissions by a quarter
The world’s biggest streaming services are slashing the amount of scripted television they are producing, with the number of commissions in the first half of 2025 dropping by 24%, year-on-year.
This is according to Ampere Analysis, a London-based media analyst firm, which tallied the number of first-run and renewed scripted TV originals ordered by the top six global streamers: Apple, Amazon, Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Paramount+.
Just 242 scripted shows were commissioned globally by streamers in the first six months of the year, down from 318 in the first half of 2024.
Apple and Netflix had the smallest drops, with their scripted commissions down 4% and 6%, respectively. Amazon Prime more than halved its orders, driven by a major cut-back in commissions in the Indian market.
Scripted commissions fell by 44% in Western Europe, and by 52% in the APAC region, the latter also due to the cutbacks in Indian content.
The overall industry excluding these six streamers saw an 8% drop in scripted commissions, suggesting the leaders may act as a bellwether for a more pronounced industry-wide drop in commissions.
The Bear – scripted television.
The drop may be in part a market correction, following a 14% spike in scripted content commissioned in the first half of 2024. This content glut came after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike halted a lot of planned production in the prior year.
Interestingly, North American scripted commissions remained year-on-year flat, with 95 titles commissioned in each six-month period, while Latin America defied the global downturn, with a 17% increase.
Cyrine Amor, research manager at Ampere Analysis, says in the report that several factors were in play, including “reduced investments in originals, a more cautious approach to commissioning decisions, and a heavier reliance on licensing in their content strategies.”
Amor adds “the uncertain economic climate and the prospect of taxation on international productions have further exacerbated these trends.”
“Regional disparities support this picture. Ampere’s monthly data shows a brief recovery in April 2025, followed by a dip in May after new movie tariffs were announced. Greater clarity on tariffs and the broader economic outlook could drive a rebound in H2.”
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