This morning at the AT&T analyst day, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar claimed that HBO Max has surpassed Disney+ in revenue generation, powered by a growing subscriber base, a higher base cost, and Warner Bros.’ strategy of bringing all of their 2021 theatrical releases to the streaming platform. Disney+ has attracted a lot of attention for generating a ton of revenue by running up an enormous number of subscribers in its first year and change of existence, and while HBO Max doesn’t approach those numbers, Kilar says that it has surpassed the 41 million subscriber mark AT&T’s internal analytics had projected for the end of 2022.
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Of course, these numbers are all based on best guesses, considering that Netflix (still the service with both the most subscribers and the most revenue), Disney, and virtually every other company in the streaming domain don’t make their numbers public. You can only base your understanding on what is available, what’s been said at investor meetings like this one, and ratings estimates.
“Based on publicly available data and analysts’ estimates, we believe that we are already the No. 2 revenue-generating standalone subscription video-on-demand service in the U.S.,” Kilar told his audience.
He further noted that HBO Max is more female-friendly than HBO itself, with around 50% of viewers female as opposed to significantly less for the cable network. It also has about 43% of its audience under the age of 35, a desirable demographic for advertisers.
Kilar noted that the theatrical plan has cut down on the rotating door common to streaming services, where audiences will sign up for the free preview, duck out, and then come back when something appealing is coming. Of course, March will see something pretty appealing — Zack Snyder’s Justice League — which will be debuting next week.
In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.