New series launches on linear television fell 12 per cent across 48 territories between January and September 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. The figure came from Frédéric Vaulpré, Senior Vice-President of TV and video market intelligence firm Glance, in the company's MIPCOM 2026 keynote at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on 13 October.

The session, titled 'Unlocking Audience & Content Dynamics: Who is Watching, What, How and Why?', combined official audience measurement data with SVoD catalogue tracking. Vaulpré was joined by Glance's Head of Research and Client Experience, Candice Alessandra, who presented international trends in scripted and unscripted content.

"Streaming has entered its maturity phase, and the line between broadcasters and platforms is blurring," Vaulpré said. "With new content slowing, platforms are growing their catalogues through broadcaster partnerships and moving closer to the TV model, while the ad tier puts them in direct competition for advertising."

How bad is the content squeeze?

The decline in new supply is not confined to broadcast. Within global platform catalogues, new content dropped by 12 per cent on Netflix and 41 per cent on Disney+.

Yet total SVoD catalogues keep expanding, fuelled by broadcaster partnerships. In France, Netflix's catalogue grew by 61 per cent in content hours in June 2026 with the contribution of TF1+, while Prime Video's grew by 49 per cent with content from M6+ and france.tv. Glance reads this as SVoD moving closer to the traditional TV model, carrying content historically rare on streaming platforms.

Where are the audiences going?

Daily linear viewing fell in every market analysed in the first half of 2026 versus the first half of 2025. The UK posted the steepest drop, down 9 minutes to 2 hours a day. Italy remains Western Europe's biggest TV-viewing nation at 3 hours 32 minutes.

In the US, broadcast has held up better than cable. Between January 2024 and June 2026, broadcast's share of total video eased from 24.2 per cent to 19.8 per cent. Cable fell harder, from 27.9 per cent to 19.5 per cent, while streaming climbed from 36 per cent to 48.5 per cent.

Advertising money is following. Broadcaster VoD rose from 23 per cent to 29 per cent of UK TV advertising revenues between 2023 and 2025, and from 9 per cent to 14 per cent in France. SVoD advertising revenues in France grew from roughly €23 million in 2023 to around €200 million in 2025.

Audiences also lean increasingly on familiar titles. In Spain, returning seasons now account for 58 per cent of Netflix Top 10 viewing, up from 35 per cent in 2023, while new launches fell from 65 per cent to 33 per cent.

Does live still matter?

Vaulpré argued that live programming remains strong. The 2026 FIFA World Cup reached a cumulative 2.6 billion viewers in China. In the UK, 24 million watched England's semi-final, the highest UK audience since the Euro 2020 final. Spain drew 16.6 million viewers for the extra time of the final, its second most-watched TV event ever. Norway recorded 1.95 million viewers and a 98 per cent market share for its win over Brazil, the country's best audience since the 2010 Eurovision final.

Platforms are chasing the same audiences through partnerships: the UEFA Champions League on Paramount+ in the UK, the NHL on Prime Video in the US, and Formula E on Disney+ worldwide.

What trends shape content now?

Drawing on Glance's NoTa platform, which tracks more than 10,000 new show launches a year across 48 territories, Alessandra confirmed the US and UK as the top two scripted exporters. France now ties Turkey for third, and the four countries together account for 60 per cent of all scripted series exports.

In scripted, three trends stood out: ecological drama rising steadily for four years, series built on ordinary heroes confronting powerful institutions, and food as a backdrop for crime storytelling. In unscripted, the UK, US and Netherlands saw their combined share of format adaptations fall five points to 58 per cent. Courtroom formats are borrowing from comedy and talk shows, militarised survival formats are spreading, and video podcasts plus creator-led vertical content are moving talent between once-separate platforms.

Vaulpré flagged three things to watch before the end of the year: Warner's Harry Potter series and Blade Runner 2099 on Prime Video; consolidation through the ITV-Sky and Warner-Paramount deals; and strong advertising investment around the US midterm elections. In an era of maturity, Glance concluded, the battle for attention will be won by those who combine the strengths of TV and streaming.