AT&T is looking past the pandemic as it updated investors Friday, announcing that it expects to more than double its HBO Max subscriptions to 150 million worldwide over the next four years.
The company has already surpassed its growth goals for the U.S. in the past year, CEO John Stankey told investors at an annual presentation Friday — one that was still held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic.
AT&T launched the streaming service in late May 2020 and expanded the HBO Max and HBO subscriber base to 61 million by the end of the year.
The company promoted its Warner Bros. movie premieres, which have been made available on HBO Max at the same time as they appear in movie theaters, causing some controversy with film directors over the last year of the pandemic.
The digital movie premieres have been a “shot of adrenaline” for HBO Max subscriptions, according to Stankey.
WarnerMedia head Jason Kilar told investors that HBO Max is the No. 2 revenue-generating subscription streaming service in the U.S. It originally planned 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 to 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’s releasing 18 premium movie releases on HBO Max this year. Since launching 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 upfront advertising commitments from marketers ahead of the launch, Kilar said.
Mortal Kombat, The Matrix and Dune will all be releasing on the platform this year. Those movie releases won’t be available to customers of the ad-supported version of HBO max, 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 contribute to a total expected revenue of $15 billion by 2025.
