October didn’t just belong to horror – it was a month where thrills, sports, and strategic reinvention collided on screens across America. From haunted houses to championship courts, streamers made sure audiences had no reason to look away. The October U.S. Streamer of the Month report breaks down exactly how it happened.
The month’s leaderboard saw a fresh mix of fright and fandom shaping visibility. HBO Max turned Halloween into an event, unleashing IT: Welcome to Derry and Weapons across Fire TV, Roku, and Apple TV with a campaign as relentless as its on-screen monsters. Pluto TV took a lighter route, serving up the Scary Movie franchise and Coraline for family fright nights, while Disney+ gave even younger viewers their turn in the moonlight with Vampirina: Teenage Vampire.
Beyond the screams, live sports dominated the spotlight. Peacock and Prime Video powered through October with NFL and NBA coverage stretching across nearly every connected device – from Apple TV to Samsung and Xfinity – making sports one of the most visible genres of the month. And the biggest game off the field? The long-anticipated ESPN-Fox One streaming bundle officially launched at $39.99, marking the start of a partnership designed to simplify how fans access their favourite leagues.
Elsewhere, fresh seasons, British favourites, and one very strategic rebrand kept streamers in the headlines. One service leaned into prestige drama to make its mark, another reminded viewers why classic crime never fades, and a major player quietly reshaped its brand identity – signalling that even in a crowded market, evolution never stops. These shifts also prompt a key question many studios and streamers are now asking – how well do their programming and release strategies align with the visibility they actually receive across CTV ecosystems during high-value windows? Our monthly data increasingly shows that genre timing and merchandising execution play a defining role.
And industry whispers kept the momentum high: new acquisition rumours and headline-making partnerships signalled a market still in motion – with major players repositioning, expanding, and setting the stage for what could be another defining year ahead.
From chilling originals to game-day dominance, October proved that streaming isn’t slowing down – it’s expanding in every direction at once.
Which streamers led the $MPV™ rankings, and which campaigns claimed the month’s biggest wins? Find out in the October U.S. Streamer of the Month report, featuring full rankings, campaign insights, and title-level data.
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