2025 saw studios begin to license more of their scripted series outside of their walled gardens, amid a change in commissioning trends. We detail the most-read Show Tracker stories of the year.
10. The Market for the Second Window
We broke down which markets around the world contained the most active second window buyers, revealing that English language markets such as the UK and Australia were leading the way.
9. The Rise of AVOD and BVOD
BVOD was a key buyer in 2025, particularly in the second window. We examined the rise of both BVOD as well as AVOD in the scripted acquisition space.
8. Paramount and Netflix
Before Paramount’s bid for the SVOD service that came towards the end of the year, we highlighted how the studio has been one of the most active sellers to Netflix. Licensing many titles in multi-market second window deals.
7. Window Watch: Doc
Sony’s series ‘Doc’ served as a good case study as to the state of the market outside of vertical integration, as the series found success quickly in multiple markets.
6. ITVX & Disney
One of the more ambitious content partnerships of the year saw Disney+ Originals like ‘Andor’ appear on ITV’s BVOD service in the UK, while ITVX titles in turn came to Disney+. We went back to look at how their historical relationship.
5. Window Watch: Day of the Jackal
NBCUniversal, like Sony with ‘Doc’, achieved early distribution success with ‘The Day of the Jackal’ around the world. We revealed who bought the title and where.
4. The Biggest Markets for the Second Window
The second window remained on everyone’s minds throughout the year and so we took multiple status checks of the market throughout the year.
3. Decline in Scripted Commissioning
While towards the end of the year we started to see some signs of recovery, overall commissioning numbers are down from the peak of 2022. Here we revealed how studio streamers were some of the biggest drivers of this decline.
2. Amazon Acquisitions
Amazon Prime has become a more active buyer of both scripted series and movies around the world, and here we revealed where their priorities lay
1. Netflix Acquisitions
Netflix also re-entered the buyer’s market, particularly in the second window for scripted series. We revealed where their focus was in buying both series and movies.
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