AMC Networks released their Q4 financial report on Wednesday and included in the numbers was the fact that their collection of streaming services reached 9 million subscribers at the end of 2021.
The total puts the networks collective streamers – AMC+, British TV hub Acorn TV, and horror platform Shudder – on pace to best internal projections of 20 to 25 million subscribers in the next four years. As AMC continues to invest in their niche streaming services, CEO Matt Blank revealed that the company anticipates that the majority of its revenue will come from digital by 2025 after being a stalwart in the world of prestige cable TV for decades.
Last year was the first major benchmark for the company’s new streaming strategy and the reported 9M subscribers exceeded company expectations and will be buoyed by an anticipated 400,000 to 500,000 more subs in Q1 of 2022.
AMC’s collection of streaming subscribers puts it in line with the number of consumers who pay for NBCUniversal’s Peacock service, however, millions more have the ability to stream Peacock content through a variety of free subscription options.
These subscriber numbers are supported by the fact that viewers can add the streaming services as part of their Amazon Prime Video subscriptions. Many young streamers use this route to scale up before abandoning Prime Video for more revenue and data control as standalone services.
As a company, AMC’s revenue increased by 3% in Q4 for an additional $803.7 million, to come in at a 9% increase to a $3.1 billion total in 2021.
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AMC+
AMC+ is a premium streaming bundle that includes the best from AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, Shudder, Sundance Now, and IFC Films Unlimited containing original, award-winning series, popular movies, festival favorites, plus horror, sci-fi, true crime, and thrillers. You can subscribe to AMC+ for $4.99 / month or save with the annual plan for $59.88 / year.
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Acorn TV
Acorn TV is an excellent choice for viewing television programming (and the occasional film) produced outside the United States, primarily content from the United Kingdom. The service also creates original content and has a library of hundreds of TV shows. Of particular note are their award-winning mysteries and dramas. Popular hits include “Happy Valley,” “Line of Duty,” “Murdoch Mysteries,” “MIdsomer Murders,” and “Poldark.”
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Shudder
Shudder is a streaming video service specializing in horror, thriller and supernatural fiction titles. The service has a vast library of both classic and contemporary films as well as new, original programming such as Wolf Creek, and Slaxx. Shudder also benefits from content courtesy of AMC including Eli Roth's History of Horror and fan-favorite zombie survival series The Walking Dead. The platform is available to users in the U.S., Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland.