AMC Streamers Drop 300,000 Subscribers in First Quarter, as Company Adopts Strategies of Bigger Competitors
After beating expectations regarding new subscribers last quarter, AMC Networks have come back down to Earth. The company, which operates premium cable channels and subscription streaming platforms, released its earnings results for the first quarter of 2023 on Tuesday. The biggest headline was that it had lost 300,000 subscribers between its streamers AMC+, Acorn TV, ALLBLK, Shudder, and Sundance Now.
In the final quarter of 2022, AMC surprised many by announcing that it had added 700,000 users, rising from 11.1 million to 11.8 million. Not all of those were permanent additions, it seems, and the company’s streaming total now stands at 11.5 million subscribers. Despite the step back, AMC has still added 22% more streaming customers than it had in the first quarter of 2022, when its total stood at 9.5M.
The earnings report confirmed that AMC is planning to launch a cheaper, ad-supported tier of its bellwether streaming service AMC+. That news was first announced in April ahead of the company’s upfront presentation, though there have been no further details from AMC as to when users might expect to see it available for purchase.
It is interesting to note that AMC seems to be following some of the same tactics its biggest competitors in the streaming industry are using to claw their way toward profitability. To start with, AMC is leaning heavily into its franchises. The earnings report makes special mention of the success of “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches,” the second series in what AMC is calling the Anne Rice Immortal Universe. “Interview with the Vampire” was the first, and the company is developing a third, unnamed series from the franchise as well.
The franchise trend at AMC doesn’t stop with Anne Rice, either. A new “Walking Dead” spin-off titled “The Walking Dead: Darryl Dixon” has wrapped production on its first season, and another spin-off featuring Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira is nearing completion of its first season as well. There are also two new shows coming from SundanceTV’s “True Crime” franchise.
Both Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced their intentions to develop more theatrical and streaming franchises from their best-known intellectual properties, so this strategy is hardly a novel concept from AMC. But it does demonstrate once again that streaming is a copycat industry, and tried-and-true formulas never go out of style if they’ll earn a company money.
AMC also announced in its earnings report that its licensing revenue rose 69% during the quarter. That’s another way that big media companies are trying to bring in quick cash these days; WBD licensed several shows to third-party streamers earlier this year, and has hinted that more such deals could be on the way. Disney has also said that it will look into licensing content, though that company will keep a tight hold on its major intellectual properties.
There is little to lose and much to gain for AMC by following the lead of bigger streamers. If the company rights its ship and starts on a viable path to profitability, it will quiet many of the skeptics who think AMC might be better off stripping its company for parts and selling them off to the highest bidder.
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.