Now Streaming: Hollywood confused over Trump tariffs on movies

“Now Streaming” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers.

PLAYING THIS WEEKEND: This week’s big new streaming content release is season 2 of crime comedy-drama series “Poker Face,” which is available to stream via Peacock (CMCSA). Meanwhile, Netflix (NFLX) subscribers can catch comedy film “Nonnas,” starring Vincce Vaughn and Susan Sarandon, as well as the new season of sports documentary series “NASCAR: Full Speed.”

FILM INDUSTRY TARIFFS: After President Trump announced in a social media post earlier this week 100% on all movies coming into the U.S. produced in “Foreign Lands,” Morgan Stanley said that, in the bear case, this likely reduces the earnings power of all companies in the value chain. The firm added that 100% tariffs on some or all of the cost of a film would lead to fewer films, more expensive films, and lower earnings for all in the business. Morgan Stanley further points out that the reality is that for any given film, there can be writing, production, editing, post-production, visual effects–all done in different countries. Retaliatory tariffs are an additional risk, as they might give foreign governments an incentive to tax or block U.S. streaming services and/or film releases, the firm argues.

Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar echoed the sentiment, noting that while some names in the media sector, including Netflix, had been seen as defensive due to lack of exposure to tariff-related threats, headlines about 100% tariffs on foreign-made films are “likely to result in this hypothesis being questioned.” However, there are “literally no details available at this point other than a social media post from President Trump,” so it is not clear how this will be implemented, the analyst noted. If this is deployed on a wide scale, it “may end up harming the very industry it is supposed to help” given that the U.S. exports triple the amount of content that it imports and generates $15B in trade surplus, the analyst added.

Following the news, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hollywood has been pleading with politicians to help stop the departure of film and TV production to other countries, but the 100% tariffs on imported movies wasn’t what Hollywood had in mind. Executives in the entertainment industry expressed confusion on how a levy could be applied to intellectual property with no specific monetary value and fear the retaliatory tariffs could damage their overseas business.

DISNEY RESULTS: On Wednesday, Disney (DIS) reported better-than-expected revenue and adjusted earnings per share for Q2, noting that direct-to-consumer operating income increased $289M to $336M in the quarter. The company also reported increases in both Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, with Linear Networks operating income also rising 2%. On its quarterly call, Disney added that it expects just a “modest” spike in Disney+ subscribers in Q3 compared to Q2, and it will share ESPN DTC timing and pricing details “very soon.”

PARAMOUNT RESULTS: In other earnings news, Paramount (PARA) reported upbeat Q1 earnings and revenue, with co-CEO Chris McCarthy saying the company is “off to a good start” in 2025. With respect to its DTC metrics, the media giant said Paramount+ reached 79M global subscribers, up 11% year-over-year, with the platform’s global watch time per user rising 17%. “We are very pleased with our performance in the quarter driven by a powerful content slate and focused execution,” the company said. “Paramount+ again had the second most Top 10 SVOD Originals, and CBS is poised to be the most-watched network for the 17th consecutive season. We are particularly proud of our progress in DTC where Paramount+ saw continued improvement in subscribers, user watch time and churn and remains on track to reach domestic profitability for 2025. Taken together, this contributed to a nearly $180 million improvement in DTC profitability. These impressive results were driven by our talented teams and creative partners, and we are grateful for their contributions.”

WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY RESULTS: Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) reported downbeat earnings and revenue for Q1, though noted that it ended the quarter with 122.3M streaming subscribers, an increase of 5.3M subscribers compared to the previous quarter. The company said on its quarterly call that it was an “exceptionally strong” quarter in streaming, adding that its HBO business is “the strongest it has ever been.” Of note, CNBC’s David Faber reported after the Q1 release that the company is moving toward splitting up, with a separation likely between its linear cable networks and studio operations coupled with streaming service Max.

AMC NETWORKS: Additionally, AMC Networks (AMCX) reported lower-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, though it noted that it launched its ad-supported AMC+ availability for Spectrum TV Select customers at the end of March. “We continue to execute on our core strengths as we navigate the changing world of media,” said CEO Kristin Dolan. “During the first quarter we delivered high-quality premium programming to our audiences, launched ad-supported AMC+ on Charter and generated $94 million of free cash flow. We remain nimble and opportunistic in broadly distributing our sought-after content across all available platforms to build value for our partners, viewers and shareholders.”

NETFLIX INDIA: Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said its production investment in India generated $2B in economic impact from 2021-2024, with viewership of Indian content rising to more than 3B hours in 2024, Sohee Kim of Bloomberg reported, citing comments made at a government-led media conference in Mumbai. “I think India is on the cusp of a very big inflection point for storytelling,” Sarandos said. “The things that have proven to be the most global have been the things that are the most locally authentic,” he added.

STOCK PLAYS: Other publicly traded companies in the space include Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Fox (FOXA), and Roku (ROKU).