HBO Max continues its growth!
The Hollywood Reporter first reported that HBO and HBO Max reached 47.0 million U.S. subscribers as of the end of the second quarter, up 2.8 million from 44.2 million as of the end of the first quarter, “driven by HBO Max retail subscriber growth,”
The number was also up by 10.7 million from the year-ago quarter and exceeded analysts’ expectations for the latest period. Global HBO and HBO Max subscribers rose from around 63.9 million as of the end of March to about 67.5 million as of the end of June, with international users growing by 760,000 in the latest period. HBO Max launched in Latin America towards the end of the second quarter and also brought to market its advertising-supported service tier that month.
CEO John Stankey stated,
“For the fourth consecutive quarter, we saw good subscriber growth across wireless, fiber and HBO Max,”
“HBO Max had another strong quarter and is ahead of plan to be a leading direct-to-consumer streaming platform, with both subscriber- and ad-supported choices. As a result, we’re raising our global HBO Max year-end forecast.”
WarnerMedia’s second-quarter revenue rose 30.7 percent to $8.8 billion, “reflecting the partial recovery from prior-year impacts of the pandemic and driven by higher content and other, subscription, and advertising revenues.” Subscription revenues jumped 21.3 percent, “primarily reflecting 38.5 percent growth of direct-to-consumer HBO Max and HBO subscription revenues following the launch of HBO Max in the year-ago quarter.” Advertising revenue of $1.7 billion was up 48.5 percent “due to the return of the NBA and strength in news.”
Operating expenses rose 47.3 percent to $7.1 billion, “driven by higher film and programming costs, including sports costs, and marketing,” the company said. WarnerMedia’s overall operating income fell 11.3 percent to $1.7 billion “as higher revenues were more than offset by continued HBO Max investment and higher sports costs.”
