Top Film & TV Production Companies Are the Unsung Heroes of the Streaming Wars
Top Film & TV Production Companies Are the Unsung Heroes of the Streaming Wars
Right now, nearly every major conglomerate with a toe in Hollywood is trying desperately to attract a large subscriber base to their streaming service to appease Wall Street. To do that, these companies need to build out their SVOD platforms with prodigious libraries of both exclusive original films and television series as well as pre-existing catalogs to keep those subscribers on the hook. As a result, Hollywood finds itself in a content consolidation craze as this feeding frenzy is spurring the merger and acquisition market.
This cascading feedback loop has elevated the value of production companies. Why? Because studios are hungry for the mass production framework and talent relations they bring to the table. For the most part, each major studio — Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, etc. — has an in-house production arm. But there are still independents working the market and increasing their own value in the process.
Here are the top movie and television production companies in the United States in terms of their contributions to major SVOD platforms, according to Reelgood’s Q2 2021 SVOD Catalog and Viewing Insights report.
Top Movie Production Companies in the United States
While studios are often the owners of high-profile intellectual property, production companies can also come complete with their own war chest of IP. Amazon dropped $8.45 billion on MGM primarily for a library that includes Rocky, Legally Blonde, and partial rights to the James Bond franchise.
Looking at viewing shares among SVOD platforms in the United States during Q2 2021, Reelgood — a streaming aggregator that tracks every TV show and movie available online for its 2 million-plus users — determined which production companies’ libraries are generating the most attention among streaming audiences at the moment.
On the film side, Warner Bros.’s contributions to HBO Max are attracting the most views for the production company’s movies. That’s what happens when a studio releases its entire 2021 film slate day-and-date in theaters and on streaming. From Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal Kombat through Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Suicide Squad, WB’s films have helped HBO Max recover from a rocky start. The streamer is on pace to add more than 11 million new subscribers in 2021.
Films from Walt Disney Pictures, the majority of which can be found on Disney+, dropped three places in the ranking compared to Q2 of last year. Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures (Sony) went up in ranking, with the most views coming from Netflix even though most of both companies’ content are on Peacock Premium and STARZ, respectively. Sony is the only major studio without a premium SVOD platform, enabling them to sign lucrative licensing and content deals with the likes of Netflix, Disney, and Amazon. Paramount remained in second place, with Prime Video logging the most views for the company, although Paramount+ holds most of its catalog. ViacomCBS’s split content endeavors have put a ceiling on Paramount+, which likely could be performing better in the streaming arena.
