WarnerMedia owner AT&T released its earnings report on Thursday, revealing that 8.6 million customers have activated their subscriptions to the service in the third quarter. The figure brings the total of HBO and HBO Max subscribers in the US to 38 million ahead of the company’s target of 37 million for the end of 2020 and 57 million globally.
According to the earnings report, 28.7 million customers were eligible for access to HBO Max at the end of the third quarter. However, activiations currently amount up to 12.7 million for HBO Max. Half of existing HBO subscribers who receive the service for free haven’t yet watched its content. And HBO Max still isn’t on major platforms like Roku, which likely has had an impact on subscriber growth.
The streamer accumulated USD 600 million, garnering total spending to USD 1.3 billion since its launch in May. AT&T estimates another USD 2 billion throughout 2020 on the streamer. AT&T CEO John Stankey mentioned that WarnerMedia-owned IP dominated shows served as the most-watched, and that the company counts with overall strong programming.
The numbers also show that around 9.3 million legacy HBO subs remain ineligible for HBO Max, which boasts 10,000 hours of premium content. That includes customers who currently subscribe to HBO through Amazon Prime Video Channels and Roku. Nearly five months after HBO Max’s launch, WarnerMedia still does not have distribution deals for Amazon’s Fire TV or Roku.
An ad-supported version of HBO Max is expected to be released next year, of which Warnermedia previously spoke about to highlight certain cost-effective strategies. The conglomerate is planning to expand into Latin America and parts of Europe remain in the works. Combined with HBO customers, AT&T's total subscriber count was 38 million in the US, and 57 million globally, at the end of September. HBO Max was accessible free of cost to approximately 10 million existing HBO customers upon launching.
Related News
