HBO Max subscriptions top expectations, will more than double by 2025, CEO says - The Dallas Morning News

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AT&T is looking past the pandemic and expects to more than double its HBO Max subscriptions to 150 million worldwide over the next four years.

The Dallas-based company surpassed its U.S. growth goals for the streaming service in the last year, CEO John Stankey told investors at an annual presentation Friday — one held virtually because of the ongoing pandemic.

AT&T launched the service late last May and expanded the HBO Max and HBO subscriber base to 61 million by the end of 2020.

In the process, the company shook up Hollywood by putting its Warner Bros. movie premieres on HBO Max at the same time they appear in theaters. The simultaneous premieres have been a “shot of adrenaline” for HBO Max subscriptions, Stankey said.

Jason Kilar, head of AT&T-owned WarnerMedia, told investors that HBO Max is the No. 2 revenue-generating subscription streaming service in the U.S., behind Netflix. Executives originally planned for it to reach 41 million subscribers by 2022 — a goal it surpassed in roughly half that time, despite analysts’ worries about HBO Max’s high cost for consumers compared with the competition.

Disney+ reported 73.7 million subscribers at the end of 2020, and Netflix topped the streaming industry with more than 200 million subscribers at the end of the year. AT&T expects to end 2021 with 67 million to 70 million HBO Max subscribers.

It plans 18 premium movie releases on HBO Max this year. Since the simultaneous-premiere policy began in December, movies are often the first titles viewed by subscribers. The move has also reduced churn, Kilar said.

This year, AT&T will launch an ad-supported version of HBO Max as a “thoughtful” way to reduce the cost of the service for consumers. HBO Max already has $80 million in advertising commitments from marketers ahead of the launch, Kilar said.

Mortal Kombat and new Matrix and Dune movies will be released on the platform this year. The movies won’t be available to customers of the ad-supported version, however.

The premium tier $14.99-per-month version of HBO Max will launch in 39 additional markets in late June and in 21 more countries across Europe in the second half of 2021. The company expects those added markets to boost streaming revenue to $15 billion by 2025.

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HBO Max subscriptions top expectations, will more than double by 2025, CEO says - The Dallas Morning News
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