The streaming wars to come

After years of speculation and hype, major players in Hollywood and Silicon Valley are getting ready to challenge Netflix.

It’s only been a few months since

Apple launched TV

+, followed quickly by Disney launching Disney+

. And there’s more to come this year, with ATT-owned WarnerMedia preparing to release HBO Max

, while NBCUniversal does the same with Peacock

.

Even before they’re available to subscribers, these new offerings are shaking up the status quo: As part of their preparation, Hollywood studios are

consolidating

, and they’re reclaiming key titles like “Friends”

and “The Office”

from rival platforms.

Netflix,

in turn, has been preparing for a world where its old content partners are either unwilling to license key titles, or charging a much higher price when they do — hence the service’s seemingly endless flood of original content, and its exclusive contracts

, worth hundreds of millions of dollars

, with big-name creators

.

Studios don’t have much of a choice here: with

declining box office at U.S. movie theaters

and declining ratings for traditional TV

, audiences are shifting and Hollywood must move with it, or be left behind.