HBO Max Schools Netflix With Massive Subscriber Growth

Netflix has continued to dominate the consumer market over the past ten years. However, the most recent quarter did not go so well for the streaming powerhouse. Recently, it appears that HBO MAX is moving forward after adding 13 million subscribers last year, while Netflix’s growth has slowed.

Earlier this week, Netflix reported quarterly earnings results that showed its subscriber numbers dropping for the first time in a decade, but that is not the case for every streaming service. Despite the fact that AT&T has moved HBO and the rest of WarnerMedia to their new home with Discovery, the company still had one more set of subscriber numbers to reveal in its earnings report on Thursday morning.

The Verge reports that according to figures, HBO added nearly 13 million subscribers last year, including three million in the fourth quarter, across both traditional HBO and HBO Max. Both services now have a combined global subscriber base of 76.8 million, which is still dwarfed by Netflix’s 221.64 million and even the most recent Disney Plus count of 129.8 million. As reported in January, HBO Max is doing exceptionally well. Check out AT&T’s Q1 2022 report below.

“At the end of the quarter, there were 76.8 million global HBO Max and HBO subscribers. Global HBO Max and HBO subscribers increased 12.8 million year over year and were up 3.0 million sequentially, primarily driven by international as well as domestic retail subscriber gains reflecting strength of the programming slate. At the end of the quarter, there were 48.6 million domestic HBO Max and HBO subscribers versus 44.2 million in the year-ago quarter, up 4.4 million year over year.”

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We’ve reached the end of HBO Max’s day-and-date movie premiere strategy, which lasted until the end of the 2021 calendar year, but it still has a fairly strong library of content, including new hits and options from the Warner Bros. Also, unlike Netflix, HBO is still expanding in a number of new territories, so it may be some time before they run into the problem of not having any new customers to find.

AT&T CEO John Stankey is no longer HBO’s CEO, but he did make a comment about password sharing, which Netflix identified as a barrier to its growth. According to Deadline, Stanke said on the investor call, “We were thoughtful about how we built the product and that we gave customers enough flexibility but we don’t want to see rampant abuse.”

More information on the future of HBO Max and the sudden downfall of CNN Plus will have to wait until Warner Bros. Discovery’s first earnings call next week. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

What’s your opinion on this one? Let us know in the comments!