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OTT video鈥攊ncluding YouTube, subscription OTT, AVOD, and free ad-supported streaming TV鈥攊s extremely popular in nearly all forms. But traditional pay TV continues to reach new lows.

Fubo is launching Fubo Sports, a 鈥渟kinny鈥� standalone sports streaming bundle with a lower cost than its existing plans and pay TV competitors. The bundle offers access to more than 20 sports-focused channels, including ESPN Unlimited, per Variety. If Fubo leans into being a low-cost, high-intensity sports hub, it can carve out a profitable niche, even if it lags behind in subscriber count and scale. But without more exclusive rights or differentiation, Fubo Sports could risk being seen as a less complete version of other bundles.

Streameast, the world鈥檚 largest illegal sports-streaming hub, has been shut down in a coordinated sting led by Egyptian authorities and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. The operation dismantled more than 80 domains that drew 1.6 billion visits over the past year. The crackdown comes as soccer and NFL seasons begin, underscoring how piracy disrupts rights holders by siphoning revenues from subscriptions and ads. Yet piracy remains resilient: copycats are already emerging to tap fans frustrated with fragmented, costly streaming options. With digital sports viewership surpassing pay TV, the industry faces an urgent challenge to keep audiences in paid ecosystems.

The news: Streaming has officially surpassed pay TV in the US, with 50.4% of households no longer subscribing to cable or satellite, per our forecast. But streaming鈥檚 ad experience still has work to do. Hub Research finds two-thirds of viewers prefer live TV ad breaks over those in on-demand streaming, and Gen Z remains the least likely to adopt ad-supported tiers. Our take: Streaming isn鈥檛 a free pass to interrupt. Gen Z demands relevance, brevity, and control鈥攎eaning streaming platforms must reengineer how, when, and where they serve ads. The format must evolve if AVOD is to survive the next wave of viewer expectations.

The trend: Gen Z is opting out of both traditional pay TV and ad-supported streaming tiers, signaling deeper changes in viewing behavior. Just 42% of Gen Z subscribers use ad-supported SVOD, while less than half of all US households now maintain a pay TV subscription. Our take: Streaming鈥檚 future depends on reaching the next generation, but current models鈥攅specially ad-supported tiers鈥攁ren鈥檛 meeting Gen Z where they are. With only 1.3 hours of streaming and 0.8 hours of traditional TV per day, Gen Z prefers social video, gaming, and music. To stay relevant, platforms must prioritize native formats, interactivity, and creator integration over legacy ad models.

Digital eclipsed traditional pay TV among live sports viewers in 2023. As that lead grows, the growth of women鈥檚 sports and betting apps provides marketers with opportunities to reach new audiences.

Disney will pay $10 million in a settlement after the Federal Trade Commission alleged that the company collected personal information from children on videos uploaded to YouTube. Disney reportedly uploaded child-directed content to YouTube but did not label the videos as 鈥淢ade for Kids,鈥� allowing young users to be served targeted ads. Information was collected 鈥渨ithout parental notice or consent,鈥� the FTC and Justice Department said. Disney鈥檚 payout highlights the risks of targeting younger audiences without adequate safeguards鈥攁 challenge that will become even more pressing for advertisers as connected TV matures as a channel.

The news: Disney announced that it will merge Disney+ and Hulu in 2026, a move that could save it $3 billion. The news came after a mixed Q3 FY25 that beat expectations thanks to high spending at Disney theme parks and growth in streaming, but saw advertising revenues fall short of analyst estimates. Our take: Disney鈥檚 future success depends on whether merging its core streaming offerings boosts advertiser appeal and a successful sports push that can compete on a similar level as rivals with access to tentpole live events like the Super Bowl.

The news: Disney and the NFL struck a landmark deal late last week that gives the entertainment giant access to a suite of high-profile NFL content in exchange for an undisclosed equity stake in ESPN that is 鈥減otentially worth billions,鈥� per The Athletic. Our take: It won鈥檛 be long before the lines of power in the sports streaming world are reexamined once more, and the Disney-NFL deal foreshadows that ESPN may get marquee NFL rights next time around. YouTube鈥檚 Sunday Ticket contract with the NFL expires in 2030, with Amazon鈥檚 Thursday Night Football agreement ending three years later.

The news: Despite a surge in sports advertising and streaming, Walt Disney Co. failed to surpass last year鈥檚 upfront volume, citing a result that was 鈥渃onsistent with last year,鈥� per a press release. Streaming accounted for over 40% of the company鈥檚 total upfront volume, on par with 2024, while sports advertising commitments across digital and linear were worth around $4 billion. Our take: As live sports viewers remain consistent and audiences increasingly turn to digital, Disney鈥檚 future growth depends on how well it can transform its streaming offerings into hubs for live sports.

The news: Disney and Universal are suing AI startup Midjourney, alleging copyright infringement. The lawsuit states that Midjourney pirated their content libraries and continues to produce 鈥渋nnumerable鈥� copies of their characters, including Shrek, Homer Simpson, and Darth Vader. Our take: A victory for the studios could cut off AI companies鈥� access to media libraries, accelerate a shift toward paid content licensing deals, and set legal precedents to help web publishers and IP owners protect their content from data scraping.

A new Adalytics investigation reveals that YouTube served ads from major brands like Disney, HBO Max, and Hulu alongside thousands of pirated films, live TV broadcasts, and exclusive streaming content鈥攔acking up over 250 million views. The report highlights systemic failures in YouTube鈥檚 content moderation and ad placement transparency, leaving advertisers with little visibility and minimal recourse for refunds. Worse, some studios may have inadvertently paid to retarget users who pirated their own content. As copyright enforcement lags and automation is gamed, brands and rights holders face financial, reputational, and legal risks in one of digital media鈥檚 biggest ecosystems.

YouTube鈥檚 hiring of ESPN veteran Justin Connolly triggers a Disney lawsuit: The clash underscores rising tensions over live sports streaming supremacy.