In the first week of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) launching Max (formerly HBO Max), 70% of existing HBO Max subscribers transitioned to the new streaming service, which bundles Discovery+ content. Max rolled out to U.S. customers on May 23.
Last Friday, The Wall Street Journal interviewed J. B. Perrette, WBD’s global streaming president, who told the publication that the 70% figure means the company is “exceeding expectations.” He also claimed that hours viewed per subscriber and total content consumption increase day by day.
Perrette added that the 30% of HBO Max customers who have yet to move over to Max will remain as paying subscribers. When users open their existing HBO Max accounts, they are prompted to join Max.
However, Perrette said that its sister streaming service Discovery+ — which will remain a stand-alone platform — lost subscribers. He declined to say a specific number. In general, WBD doesn’t break out separate subscriber numbers for its streaming services.
“We did see an uptick in cancellations on Discovery+ very much in line with what we expected,” Perrette told the WSJ.
He then noted that approximately 20% of the titles Max subscribers watch are from Discovery+.
Max subscribers have access to 35,000 hours of content, which include hit HBO shows like “Succession,” “Barry,” “White Lotus,” “Euphoria” and “House of the Dragon” as well as Discovery+ content, such as “Fixer Upper,” “90 Day Fiancé” and “Dr. Pimple Popper.”
For the first quarter of 2023, the company reported 97.6 million global subs across HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+.
WBD CEO David Zaslav touted during the earnings call that the company’s streaming segment is expected to be profitable by the end of the year. Previously, the company set a goal to turn a profit in 2025.
Max makes its US debut, giving subscribers 35K hours of content
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