HBO Max and HBO ended the second quarter of 2021 with 47 million domestic subscribers and 67.5 million globally, according to WarnerMedia’s latest quarterly results. Since launch, HBO Max has continued to attract new subscribers, albeit maybe not quite at the rate seen by other services. Still, the latest figures point to a continued increase in subscribers for the subscription service.
HBO Max launched in early 2020 and around the same time lockdown measures started becoming commonplace. A knock-on effect of these lockdowns was an increase in the use of streaming services, with Netflix proving to be one of the major winners. However, as Netflix now sees its COVID-19 bump ending, HBO Max continues to steadily increase its presence in the market with an increase in the number of subscribers.
AT&T and WarnerMedia released their second quarter figures today, confirming HBO Max had 47 million subscribers at the close of the last quarter. This number relates to both HBO Max and standard HBO subscribers and is also specific to the domestic market. Globally, HBO Max closed out Q2 with 67.5 million subscribers.
To put these numbers into perspective, at the close of the same quarter in 2020, HBO Max had 36.3 million subscribers, resulting in an increase of almost 11 million in one year. A similar trend can be seen at the global level, with the number increasing from 55.6 million in Q1 2020 to the current 67.5 million.
With the effects of the pandemic, many subscription services have registered an increase over the past year. However, HBO Max has had the added and exclusive benefit of providing subscribers with access to a number of Warner Bros. movies at the same time they were released in theaters. In addition, the service has also been expanded both in terms of location and price. For example, HBO Max has routinely become available in more countries over the past few months and only last month introduced a cheaper, ad-free supported plan. While the cheaper plan does not provide subscribers with access to the theater-released movies on the same day, it is likely to appeal to those looking to avoid the higher $15 per month cost of a subscription.
With the service likely to continue to expand to new areas and the recent introduction of the more affordable price, it is likely that HBO Max will continue to attract new subscribers and keep on track for its year-end goals. Speaking of which, AT&T and WarnerMedia now expect HBO Max to finish out 2021 with between 70 and 73 million subscribers.
Source: AT&T
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