We are all aware of the common strategies employed by streaming services to boost their profits: increase subscriber counts, charge subscribers higher fees, and incorporate advertising. Yet, the science streaming platform Curiosity Stream is pursuing a different path that may revolutionize how streaming entities, particularly niche services, strive to thrive.
Founded by Discovery Channel’s John Hendricks in 2015, Curiosity Stream offers a subscription priced at $40 annually, devoid of commercials.
The streaming sector has expanded to encompass the Curiosity Channel television network. CuriosityStream Inc. also generates revenue through its original content and Curiosity University’s educational offerings. The company reported its first positive net income in Q1 2025, following nearly ten years of operations.
Given its emphasis on science, history, research, and education, Curiosity Stream will invariably remain a smaller contender in the streaming landscape. As of March 2023, Curiosity Stream had accrued 23 million subscribers, a tiny fraction compared to Netflix’s 301.6 million (as recorded in January 2025).
Nevertheless, in a fiercely competitive environment, Curiosity Stream’s revenue grew by 41 percent year over year in its Q3 2025 earnings report released this month. This surge was significantly attributed to the licensing of Curiosity Stream’s original content for training large language models (LLMs).
“Examining our year-to-date figures, licensing has yielded $23.4 million through September, which … has already surpassed half of our total subscription revenue for all of 2024,” stated Phillip Hayden, Curiosity Stream’s CFO, during a conference call with investors this month.
Up to now, Curiosity Stream has completed 18 AI-related projects “spanning video, audio, and code assets” in collaboration with nine partners, as mentioned in an announcement in October.
The company anticipates generating more revenue from intellectual property licensing agreements with AI firms than from subscriptions by 2027, “potentially even sooner,” CEO Clint Stinchcomb remarked during the earnings call.
