January in Australia opened with a clear contrast in play. Global franchises arrived with scale and confidence, while local stories carved out space through relevance and recognition. As audiences settled into summer routines, visibility patterns revealed how different services approached the start of the year – some leaning on international weight, others finding traction closer to home. The January AU Streamer of the Month report explores which of those approaches translated into sustained presence across connected TV environments.
One service stood out through sheer consistency of presence. HBO Max maintained prominent visibility across the month, with multiple high-profile titles appearing repeatedly across connected TV environments. Alongside that global push, local storytelling also found meaningful space. ABC iview brought renewed attention to Goolagong, illustrating how culturally resonant titles can still cut through when positioned deliberately. How those very different plays compared is explored in the January AU Streamer of the Month report.
Elsewhere, January showed how tension-led drama continues to perform as a reliable draw. Established thrillers and tightly paced series resurfaced with enough presence to feel unavoidable, reinforcing the value of familiarity when attention is fragmented. At the same time, entry-point strategies returned to the foreground, with free trials and introductory offers used selectively to reset browsing behaviour at the start of the year – a signal that price and promotion remain closely intertwined.
Beyond individual titles, January reflected a market in transition. Consolidation among broadcasters, shifting investment toward digital assets, and growing pressure on sports pricing all pointed to an industry recalibrating how value is created and sustained. These broader dynamics formed an important backdrop to how visibility played out across Australian screens.
So which services struck the right balance, which titles held attention longest, and who entered 2026 with momentum on their side? Full rankings, device-level analysis, and market context are available in the January AU Streamer of the Month report.
Taken together, January showed that streaming visibility in Australia is driven less by individual breakout titles and more by how consistently content is surfaced across devices – balancing scale, local relevance, and entry incentives during peak viewing periods.
)