Imagine a world where the internet is filled with a plethora of streaming services, each vying for our attention and our dollars. This is the world of the streaming wars, and it’s a strange and complicated place. For some companies, it’s a stable and thriving business, while for others, it’s a constant struggle to stay afloat.
On this episode of The Vergecast, we’re diving in to figure out where things are headed in the world of streaming. We’re doing something we love to do every year: our annual Streaming Draft. The rules are simple: we have seven categories, three hosts, and 21 services to draft. Each service can only be drafted once, and whoever picks the best roster wins.
Last Year’s Results
We started by recapping last year’s results. Here are the winners:
- Nilay Patel’s picks: TikTok, the Disney Bundle, Sony Bravia Core, YouTube TV with Sunday Ticket, MotorTrend TV, and Max
- Alex Cranz’s picks: Peacock, Hulu, Netflix, Channels, Crunchyroll, and Paramount Plus
- David Pierce’s picks: YouTube (with ads), Apple TV Plus, Tubi, Prime Video, Criterion, and Instagram Reels
- Jake Kastrenakes took over for Alex’s picks this year, and alongside David and Nilay he kicked off the draft.
The Draft Process
Each of the three hosts then had to fill the following seven categories:
- Cheap (has to have a tier under $10)
- Awards (has to have won an Oscar)
- 4K (has to offer content in 4K)
- Live (has to have some live element)
- Niche (has to be a genre-specific service)
- New this year: Content (a show or movie from a service you didn’t pick)
- Wild card (anything you want)
The draft went pretty immediately off the rails, but after an hour or so, we’d finished. And now, it’s time to reveal the results.
The Results
Here are the picks from each of the three hosts:
- Jake’s picks:
- Cheap: Tubi
- Awards: Netflix
- 4K: Hulu
- Live: Instagram Live
- Niche: PBS Passport
- Content: LoFi Girl
- Wild Card: Kanopy
- Nilay’s picks:
- Cheap: TikTok
- Awards: Max
- 4K: Disney Plus
- Live: Sunday Ticket
- Niche: Kaleidescape
- Content: CNBC
- Wild Card: F1 TV
- David’s picks:
- Cheap: Peacock
- Awards: Amazon Prime Video
- 4K: YouTube Premium
- Live: YouTube TV
- Niche: BritBox
- Content: Stranger Things season five
- Wild Card: Paramount Plus
As ever, we all think we won the draft. And who actually won is going to be hard to know for a while.
What’s Next
We’re excited to see what the future holds for the streaming wars. Fox’s upcoming streaming service is still to be announced, and we’ll have to wait and see if Disney can make ESPN Flagship a true winner of a sports streamer. Apple and Amazon will likely continue to throw money at Hollywood, and we’ll have to see if TikTok still exists in 2026.
One thing is certain: Netflix is still the only truly safe bet in the business. But that’s not going to stop the competition from trying to catch up.
Conclusion
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Vergecast. If you think you know who won the draft, let us know. Email us at vergecast@theverge.com or comment below.
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