The growth-at-all-costs phase of the streaming wars is over; now, profits are the priority.
Faced with slowing subscriber growth in their core domestic markets, some streaming services are shifting their focus from adding users to growing their bottom line. The result is that streamers like Walt Disney Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery are each doing some combination of slashing costs, raising prices and creating new ad-supported tiers that offer content at lower prices to consumers but also establish a new revenue stream for the companies.