Warner Bros. Discovery Adds 1.6 Million Global Streaming Customers; Nearly All From BluTV Acqusition

Warner Bros. Discovery is usually one of the last media companies to report its quarterly earnings, and that remained the case for the final quarter of 2023. WBD’s representatives met with Wall Street analysts via conference call on Friday to discuss its fourth quarter 2023 earnings report. WBD revealed it had gained 1.6 million streaming subscribers, bringing its new total to 97.7 million.

Domestically, however, WBD saw a decline of 600,000 customers, the third-straight quarter of subscriber losses. The company no longer reveals individual subscriber totals for Max and discovery+, but year-over-year, WBD’s United States-based streamers have dropped 2.6 million subscribers while the company has added 1.6M overall.

In December 2023, WBD acquired Turkish streaming service BluTV, which accounted for an increase of 1.3 million subscribers, the vast majority of the company’s streaming subscriber increases in the quarter.

Subscriber totals only tell half the story for streaming providers, nowadays. The stock price of companies that own streaming services now hinges on whether they’ve made their streamers profitable or not, and raising average revenue-per-user (ARPU) is the best way to increase profitability. WBD’s streaming ARPU was $7.94, an increase of $0.12 from the $7.82 it was bringing in per customer at the end of Q3.

How Do Max and discovery+ Compare to Netflix, Disney+, Other Streamers?

Netflix has the largest subscriber base of any streaming service, with more than 260 million viewers. It also has a higher ARPU than Max; in its fourth quarter 2023 earnings report, Netflix reported it had an ARPU of $16.64. Disney’s ARPU in the U.S. and Canada now sits at $8.15, and between its streamers Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ it carries 224.5 million streaming subscribers, not accounting for Disney Bundle redundancies.

Max is still well ahead of Paramount+ and Peacock in terms of subscriber count. Paramount+ last reported having 63 million customers (Paramount Global has not reported its Q4 2023 earnings yet), while Peacock now carries 30 million subscribers. Neither Apple TV+ nor Prime Video reports their subscribers publicly.

What Were WBD’s Biggest Stories of the Quarter?

The biggest recent story from WBD technically occurred during the first quarter of 2024, but it bears mentioning nevertheless. WBD recently came together with Disney and Fox to announce that it was sending its sports rights to a new streaming service, a joint venture platform that would be available for launch by fall of 2024. That streamer already faces legal opposition from Fubo, and will also be reviewed for possible antitrust violations by the Department of Justice.

Netflix and Max have drawn closer together due to licensing agreements in the past year, but in the fourth quarter the two streamers combined in a bundle for the first time. Ad-supported plans of Max and Netflix are now available for select Verizon Wireless subscribers for $9.99 per month.

One of the biggest potential stories for WBD during its fourth quarter quickly fizzled to naught. In late December, it was reported that WBD had held merger talks with Paramount; however, concerns over WBD’s already-huge debt load and possible lack of approval from regulators brought the discussion to a screeching halt before it could develop much further.

Max has also announced that it will not start charging for its Bleacher Report sports add-on this month, as originally intended. The ability to watch live sports games from TNT, TBS, and truTV will remain free for Max subscribers for the foreseeable future.

Those subscribers will soon have a new sport to watch on Max. The streamer will host races from NASCAR starting in 2025, thanks to a new rights deal signed by the racing league. In addition to live races, Max will stream qualifying sessions and practices as part of the deal.