The snapshot of streaming on January 24, 2026, reveals less about what’s “new” and more about what global audiences truly choose to watch when given full freedom: established franchises, elevated horror, escapist romances, and recognizable narrative universes. This is not merely a competition between titles, but between storytelling models.

The week confirms a trend that has been taking shape since late 2025: streaming is no longer the exclusive territory of the new. It has become a vast emotional archive of pop culture.

Netflix: the empire of blending originals, true crime, and nostalgia

In film, the leadership of The Rip signals a strong appetite for straightforward action thrillers, while Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart confirms the continued dominance of true crime as a high-engagement genre. People We Meet on Vacation, meanwhile, points to another quiet strength of the platform: contemporary romances that function as emotional refuge.

But the most revealing data lies in the simultaneous presence of No Time to Die, SPECTRE, and The Magnificent Seven. Netflix continues to operate as a kind of pop-culture museum, where legacy franchises and recent blockbusters coexist with original releases—proving that the algorithm understands something essential about its audience: nostalgia is just as powerful as novelty.

In the series ranking, His & Hers leads, but the phenomenon of the week is Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, which takes second place globally. The series confirms the return of classic detective fiction as a contemporary language. Alongside it, Run Away and Stranger Things show how Netflix balances three forces: original IPs, literary adaptations, and already-established universes.

The continued presence of Stranger Things is symbolic. Even without new episodes, the series remains a permanent cultural asset.

HBO: streaming as an extension of prestige cinema

HBO has a particularly revealing week. In the film rankings, One Battle After Another leads, followed by Sinners. This is not just audience success—it’s the consolidation of a rare phenomenon in streaming: auteur-driven films with true event status.

The catalog blends sophisticated horror (Alien: Romulus, Immaculate), cult classics (Children of Men), and high-impact entertainment (Jurassic World Rebirth). HBO positions itself, once again, as the streaming platform that bridges cinema and television.

In series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms leads by a wide margin, confirming that the world of Westeros remains one of the most resilient brands in pop culture. Alongside it, Euphoria and Industry reaffirm the platform’s auteur prestige, while The Pitt and The Winter King highlight the appetite for epic, dense narratives.

Disney+: the power of emotional memory

Disney+ presents perhaps the most predictable ranking—and precisely for that reason, the most revealing. TRON: Ares leads, followed by the two Avatar films. The rest of the Top 10 reads like an inventory of global childhood: Tangled, Up, Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, Inside Out 2.

The platform is not just competing for audience share; it is competing for memory. Its catalog functions as an emotional ecosystem to which entire generations continually return.

In series, The Beauty leads, consolidating itself as one of the year’s most unexpected phenomena. Alongside Percy Jackson, Grey’s Anatomy, and Modern Family, the ranking reveals Disney+’s hybrid strategy: new IPs coexisting with established universes and perennial series.

Prime Video: diversity without a narrative center

Prime Video’s Top 10 is the most heterogeneous of the week. Films like Ballerina, It Ends with Us, and Shadow Force coexist with lesser-known thrillers and mid-budget productions. Prime continues to operate more as a broad aggregator than as a platform with a defined aesthetic identity.

In series, Fallout leads, confirming the strength of video game adaptations. The presence of The Night Manager, Reacher, and The Summer I Turned Pretty indicates that Prime bets on franchises, romance, and action—without a single unifying identity, but with broad reach.

Paramount+: franchises and masculine universes

Paramount+’s ranking is dominated by major franchises: Mission: Impossible, A Quiet Place, and World War Z. Alongside them, Mean Girls and The Substance suggest attempts at diversification, but the backbone of the platform remains action cinema.

In series, Landman, Tulsa King, and Yellowstone confirm the hegemony of the Taylor Sheridan universe. Paramount+ has built its own narrative ecosystem, centered on masculinity, power, and territory.

Apple TV+: curation as identity

Apple TV+ continues to follow a path opposite to that of its rivals. In film, titles like F1 and The Gorge dominate, reinforcing the platform’s bet on premium productions. In series, Hijack, Tehran, and Severance show that Apple remains invested in sophisticated thrillers and auteur-driven fiction.

Unlike Netflix or Disney+, Apple is not competing for volume; it is competing for prestige.

What the week’s Top 10 really says

This week’s global panorama reveals three dominant forces in streaming:

The consolidation of franchises as cultural currency
The return of horror and thrillers as political and emotional languages
Nostalgia as a retention strategy

Streaming is no longer just a showcase for new releases. It has become the space where audiences revisit myths, reconstruct memories, and choose the universes in which they wish to remain.

And perhaps that is the most important takeaway from January 2026’s Top 10: we are not merely watching films and series. We are choosing worlds.