The combined number of HBO, HBO Max and Discovery Plus subscribers rose to almost 95 million at the end of the third quarter of 2022. Following the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. in 2021, and the subsequent creation of the joint Warner Bros. Discovery entity, the company has reported HBO, HBO Max and Discovery Plus subscribers together.
At the end of the second quarter of this year, Warner Bros. Discovery reported a total of 92.1 million subscribers. With an increase of 2.8 million in the third quarter, the total number of global DTC subscribers was 94.9 million as of September 30th. This number reflects actual subscriptions and doesn’t take into account any users currently on a free trial.
In terms of domestic (United States and Canada), the total number of subscribers at the end of Q3 2022 was 53.5 million. This is a more modest increase of 500,000 compared to the 53 million reported for the second quarter of the year. As a result, the majority of the subscriber growth came from international markets, which rose to 41.4 million (up from 39.1 million in Q2 2022).
Even though WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. were still releasing separate earnings reports this time last year, Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest quarterly earnings report (PDF) confirms that domestic subscribers increased by 4.7 million compared to the third quarter of 2021, and that international subscribers grew by 10.3 million over the same period. These Q3 2021 numbers have been adjusted to reflect what Warner Bros. Discovery refers to as its “harmonized definition.” Essentially, subscribers that it has a “recognized subscription” for and not ones that might have access to (but don’t use) any of the services through a bundled promotion.
It is not only the companies and subscribers that are being united through this merger, as HBO Max and Discovery Plus are also expected to combine into a single streaming service as well. While an exact date has yet to be confirmed, the merging of HBO Max and Discovery Plus is expected to start in the United States in summer 2023, with the new single service then expected to roll out in other regions in late 2023 and early 2024.
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