A D3 data story · five interactive views
Cinema, streaming, and a decade of change.
From ticket prices to subscriber growth, explore how theatrical and streaming entertainment evolved side by side.
A Team Outliers project by Mahe Chen, Qixuan Chu, and Yan Luk
00 / The premise
Is streaming revolutionizing film consumption or simply rebranding Hollywood magic?
This data story examines how evolving consumer behavior, regional economic factors, and global trends are reshaping our movie experiences—using Netflix as a bellwether for the streaming revolution.
For: casual moviegoers, film enthusiasts, and industry insiders curious about what drives the shift from cinema to screens.
01 / Global patterns
Where does streaming appear strongest?
Embark on a global journey that reveals how we calculate the relative prominence of streaming versus box office through a custom score formula. By blending Netflix subscribers, box office revenue, population, and GDP, this metric highlights where streaming appears to have the strongest relative foothold. Some regions display a tilt toward digital platforms, while others hold on to traditional movie-going.
Custom exploratory score · 2012–2023
02 / Revenue growth
Two growth curves, one changing market.
Box-office growth is volatile, with a sharp 2020 decline and uneven recovery, while Netflix subscriber counts rise across the displayed period, often at double-digit rates. The comparison shows contrasting trajectories without establishing what caused them.
Box-office revenue vs. Netflix subscribers
03 / Price wars
Tickets versus subscriptions.
Witness a battle of economic momentum as this visualization contrasts ticket prices with the changing cost of streaming subscriptions. The shared timeline makes it possible to compare how each service and the cinema ticket moved over the same period.
Interactive service comparison
04 / The genre divide
Do the same genres win on every screen?
Explore how movie genres tell different stories in the box office versus on streaming platforms. Compare the supply of titles across major services with box-office revenue, then toggle individual platforms to inspect how the mix changes.
Platform catalogue counts vs. sampled movie revenue
05 / Industry recognition
Netflix at the 2025 Oscars.
Compare Netflix’s 2025 nomination count with the other displayed distributors. This single-year snapshot places Netflix within Hollywood’s traditional prestige field.
Nominations by distributor · 2025
06 / Takeaways
The screen changed. The cinema did not disappear.
Across the displayed periods, box-office revenue remains volatile while Netflix subscriber totals expand. These views describe contrasting patterns; they do not establish why audience choices changed.
Main message: theatrical revenue and Netflix subscriber growth follow different trajectories, while price, genre, geography, and awards add context to that contrast.
Audience takeaway: the five views are a starting point for comparing cinema and streaming, not evidence that any one factor caused the shift.
Methods desk
Data sources
Global patterns 5 sources
- Netflix subscribers by quarter
NetflixSubscribers2012-2024ByQuarter.csv - Netflix users by country
netflix subscribers by country.csv - World Bank population data
WorldPopulationByYear2000-2023.csv - IMF GDP data
WorldGDPByYear1980-2023.csv - Box office by country
WorldBoxRevenueByCountry.csv
Revenue growth 2 sources
- Box Office Mojo quarterly revenue
BoxOfficeRevenueByQuarter2001-2024.csv - Netflix subscribers by quarter
NetflixSubscribers2012-2024ByQuarter.csv
Price comparison 2 sources
- Streaming service prices
streaming_service.csv - Cinema ticket prices
ticket_prices.csv
Genre comparison 2 sources
- Movies on streaming platforms
MoviesOnStreamingPlatforms_updated.csv - IMDb top movies and shows
imdb_movie_dataset.csv
2025 Oscars 1 source
- Academy Awards database
oscars-2025.csv