We all know that streaming services’ constant tactics to make more money are to acquire more subscribers, charge those subscribers more money, and sell advertising. But science streaming service Curiosity Stream is taking a new path that could reshape the way streaming companies, especially niche options, try to survive.
Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks launched Curiosity Stream in 2015. This streaming service costs $40 a year and has no commercials.
The streaming business has grown to include the Curiosity Channel TV channel. CuriosityStream Inc. also makes money from original programming and Curiosity University’s educational programs. After nearly 10 years in business, the company turned a profit for the first time in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
With a focus on science, history, research, and education, Curiosity Stream has always been a small player compared to other streaming services. As of March 2023, Curiosity Stream has 23 million subscribers, which is tiny compared to Netflix’s user base of 301.6 million (as of January 2025).
Still, in a highly competitive market, Curiosity Stream’s third-quarter 2025 financial results released this month showed a 41% year-over-year increase in sales. This is primarily due to Curiosity Stream’s original programming license for training large-scale language models (LLMs).
“If you look at our year-to-date numbers, license revenue through September was $23.4 million, which is already more than half of what our subscription business generated for all of 2024,” Curiosity Stream Chief Financial Officer Philip Hayden said on a conference call with investors this month.
So far, Curiosity Stream has completed 18 AI-related fulfillments “across video, audio, and code assets” with nine partners, according to an October announcement.
CEO Clint Stinchcomb said on an earnings call that he expects revenue from IP licensing deals with AI companies to outweigh revenue from subscriptions by 2027 and “possibly sooner than that.”
