We’re long past the days when exclusivity alone could carry a streaming service. Sure, it still has its place, live sports, big-budget originals, that must-watch franchise drop, but it’s no longer the backbone of the business. The real winners aren’t hoarding content. They’re squeezing every last dollar out of it.
Let’s rewind.
Last week, we dropped several articles across The Streaming Wars that laid out where this business is headed. Sports isn’t just content anymore, it’s infrastructure. Netflix is rumored to be sniffing around Warner Bros Discovery, not because they need shows, but because they need franchises. And exclusivity? It’s not dead, it’s just a footnote.
The industry’s figured out that IP isn’t a defensive wall. It’s a yield engine.
The IP Yield Era
When Good Burger is on Netflix and Paramount+ at the same time, we’re not talking about accidental overlap. We’re talking strategy. Welcome to the age of “IP yield,” where the question isn’t “Who owns it?” but “Who can milk it harder?”
This shift isn’t subtle. In 2018, just 9% of titles appeared on multiple platforms. Today? Nearly 40%. And we’re not talking about straight-to-DVD filler. Over 40% of premium titles (critics’ words, not mine) now live in multi-platform homes.
The U.S. is leaning into this overlap, not backing away from it. SVODs are licensing deeper into each other’s catalogs. AVODs are built entirely on it. FAST channels are recycling hits like it’s 2006. Even co-exclusive deals are popping up faster than new password rules at Netflix.
Why? Because IP is now an asset class
Forget content libraries. We’re talking portfolios now. Your IP isn’t just something to protect, it’s something to work. You don’t sit on it. You squeeze it. You syndicate it, license it, spin it off, slap it on a hoodie, a lunchbox, a limited-edition snack brand.
The goal isn’t exclusivity. It’s exposure. Maximum reach, multiple revenue streams, minimal platform dependence.
Just look at what we said about Netflix and HBO. That hypothetical isn’t about acquisition, it’s about strategy. Legacy IP like Harry Potter, DC, or HBO’s prestige catalog isn’t just “valuable,” it’s monetizable forever. And that’s the model now. Not volume. Not velocity. Yield.
The move now isn’t hoarding hits, it’s scaling them like startups. One idea, ten revenue lines, zero exclusivity anxiety.
Creators Already Get It
You know who figured this out before the execs in Burbank? YouTubers.
MrBeast turned a chocolate bar into a $250 million business. Emma Chamberlain built a coffee empire out of cold brew and charisma. Logan Paul sold a billion dollars’ worth of energy drinks before the market cooled and the lawsuits kicked in. These creators aren’t riding the algorithm, they’re outgrowing it.
They’ve diversified into snacks, beverages, apparel, cookware, analytics, mobile networks, betting platforms…you name it. Not because it’s trendy, but because they understand the volatility of platform-based income. The audience can move. The algorithm can shift. But a product? That’s yours to scale.
They’re not creators anymore. They’re IP managers. Every video, every brand extension, every licensing deal is just another way to squeeze more value out of what they own.
Sound familiar? It should, because it’s the Disney playbook…turn Marvel and Star Wars into vertically integrated machines. Movies, shows, merch, parks, games, cruises, you name it. And while recent misfires have sparked some fatigue, nobody’s extracted more yield from franchise IP than Disney.
Creators didn’t just copy that model. They executed it faster.
Even the Disruptors Want Legacy
When Netflix looks at Warner Bros. Discovery, it doesn’t see a studio. It sees a vertical stack of exploitable IP: Looney Tunes merch. Harry Potter theme parks. DC branding deals. HBO prestige for awards season, Discovery for binge season. That’s not a brand identity crisis. That’s a revenue blender.
But blending only works if the infrastructure holds. Otherwise, you end up with Sunday Ticket blackouts and angry fans flooding your social feeds. As Kirby pointed out, rights are meaningless if the stream doesn’t load at kickoff.
Which brings us back to the point: content is the bait. The product is the experience. And the long game is IP yield.
The Streaming Wars Take
Exclusivity is no longer a moat. The new moat is how many monetization layers you can stack on a single piece of IP, SVOD, AVOD, merch, food, apps, maybe even an MVNO if you’re feeling spicy.
If your library isn’t being worked like a MrBeast chocolate bar, online, offline, branded, bundled, sliced and sold, you’re not just leaving money on the table. If your IP strategy starts and ends with exclusivity, you’re not protecting value, you’re capping it.
The game has changed.
