Graduation Year

2026

Date of Submission

11-2025

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Darren Filson

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Abstract

The rapid growth of the SVOD (streaming video on-demand) industry from 2018 to 2025 has created a competitive and complex environment, yet little empirical work examines how strategic decisions affect firm value. This thesis helps managers, investors, and consumers understand which strategic decisions generate the most value. I analyze strategies announced by four major SVOD firms: Netflix, Disney (operator of Hulu and Disney+), Warner Bros. Discovery (HBO Max & Discovery), and Paramount (Paramount+). I use event study methodology to estimate the abnormal returns associated with 71 strategic initiatives announced during the period 2018 to 2024 in five main categories: introductions of ad tiers, live events, price changes, corporate development actions, and marketing campaigns. I estimate abnormal returns using an ordinary least squares regression and the Fama-French five factor model.

I find that announcements related to the introduction of ad-tiers, price increases, live events, and content-focused acquisitions generally result in positive abnormal returns, while marketing campaigns and cross-industry acquisitions do not. I find that price increases yield substantial positive abnormal returns for firms with relatively price-inelastic consumers (Disney and Netflix), but they yield little to no abnormal returns for firms with more price-elastic consumers (Paramount+ and HBO Max). I find that some one-off live events such as The Tom Brady Roast, Elton John Farewell Concert, and the Super Bowl are associated with positive abnormal returns, but longer, drawn-out events such as Dancing With the Stars or NHL on ESPN+ are not associated with such gains. I also find that cross-industry acquisitions yield lower abnormal returns than content-driven acquisitions. Lastly, I find that marketing events do not affect returns unless associated with a product or feature change.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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