Netflix spent $17 billion on content in 2024. Disney Plus spent $12 billion. The streaming wars have been defined by massive spending on libraries so vast nobody could ever watch everything available. Meanwhile, Criterion Channel has maybe 500 carefully curated classic films, spends a fraction of what the giants spend, and is profitable with subscriber retention rates that make Netflix jealous. It’s the media equivalent of boring business success: focus beats scale.
The pattern appears across the industry. Services like Shudder (horror), Crunchyroll (anime), and BritBox (British TV) are thriving. While big streamers hemorrhage money fighting for mass market dominance, niche services are quietly building sustainable businesses by serving super-fans who know exactly what they want.
The Economics of Focused Content
The math of niche streaming is fundamentally different. Netflix must appeal to everyone: kids, teens, action fans, romance lovers. That requires a massive, expensive library. Niche services only need to appeal to one group, which lowers content costs dramatically. Licensing a curated horror collection costs pennies compared to producing Stranger Things.
Customer acquisition is cheaper too. Shudder doesn’t need Super Bowl ads. It sponsors horror podcasts and reaches exactly who it needs. Marketing becomes targeted and efficient instead of expensive and broad. Every dollar spent reaches potential subscribers instead of being wasted on people who’ll never care about the category.
Why Super-Fans Are Better Customers
Super-fans have low churn because they’re not subscribing for one hit show. They’re subscribing for the category itself. A horror fan stays subscribed to Shudder because they always want horror options. This loyalty creates stable revenue that broad services lack. Netflix users subscribe and cancel based on individual shows. Niche users stay subscribed because the entire library serves their interest.
These fans are also less price-sensitive. They perceive immense value in a service catering specifically to their passion. Anime fans happily paid $8 monthly for Crunchyroll, helping drive its $1.2 billion acquisition by Sony. The value proposition is fit, not volume.
The Broad Model Is Breaking
The “aggregate everything” approach is hitting a wall. Users feel paralyzed by too much choice and frustrated by quality dilution. When a platform has 10,000 titles, finding the good ones becomes work. Niche services solve this through curation. They don’t offer everything. They offer the right things for their audience.
This creates a paradox: smaller libraries generate higher satisfaction. Horror fans would rather have 200 great horror films than 10,000 mixed titles where 95% aren’t relevant. Quality density beats absolute quantity.
The Re-Bundled Future
We’re moving toward a re-bundled ecosystem. Most households will likely have one or two broad services (Netflix, Amazon) for general entertainment and two or three niche services reflecting specific interests. The one-stop-shop era is fading, replaced by a constellation of specialized providers.
The streaming wars aren’t over, but the winners might not be the ones with the most subscribers. They might be the ones with the most passionate subscribers willing to pay month after month because the service genuinely serves them. As the golden age of TV shifts toward quality over quantity, niche streamers are proving that focus beats scale.
The Bottom Line
Niche streaming services are winning by doing less. Smaller libraries, lower costs, targeted marketing, and passionate subscribers create sustainable businesses while giants burn billions chasing growth. Sometimes the best strategy isn’t trying to be everything to everyone. It’s being exactly what some people desperately want.
Sources: Streaming industry reports, subscriber retention data, media business analysis.
