AT&T TV subscribers may be plummeting by the quarter, but its seems some of their streaming services are flourishing. In their Q2 2020 earnings report, the company revealed that 4.1 million customers activated their HBO Max accounts. 3 million of those were retail subscribers, while the rest were wholesale subscribers through AT&T.
With legacy HBO at 33 million users, both services come to a combined 36.3 million U.S. subscribers. This is up from the 34.6 million in December 31, 2019.
In comparison, Disney+ added nearly 26.5 million subscribers over their first 1.5 month period. Netflix announced they added 2.5 million subscribers in U.S. and Canada this quarter.
The company also revealed HBO Max subscribers are spending 70 percent more time on the new service than users of HBO Now.
The report contradicts findings from a study conducted by Reelgood earlier this month. Earlier this month, a report from Reelgood showed that 71 percent of HBO Now users had moved onto the newer service.
Prior to launch, there were ~8 million HBO NOW subscribers, meaning as many as 40% of those have switched over to the service.
Though some HBO Now customers have taken to HBO Max, the latter’s launch wasn’t without flaws. For one, customers still don’t know how it differs from other HBO-branded services.
HBO Max was also unavailable on Fire TV and Roku devices at launch and remains unavailable today. The two platforms make up nearly 80 million active streamers.
Nonetheless, those who have been hooked by the service have gravitated towards current movies and older shows. According to Reelgood, the Joaquin Phoenix-helmed film “Joker” proved to be the most popular movie between May 28 to July 2, accounting for 7.3 percent of all film streams on the service. “Ad Astra,” starring Brad Pitt came in second at 5.2 percent.
AT&T reported a net loss of 886,000 premium TV subscribers (including AT&T TV), leaving them with 17.7 million premium TV subscribers. The company also lost an additional 68,000 AT&TV NOW subscribers, leaving them with just 720,000 (after a peak 1.85 million subscribers in September 2018).