TOPLINE
As streaming services continue to battle for the attention—and wallets—of viewers, subscriber numbers have changed over the last few months, with Netflix on a decline for the first time in a decade as Disney+ continues to grow and HBO Max and Discovery+ prepare to merge.
KEY FACTS
Netflix remains the leader of the pack, with 220.67 million global subscribers as of June according to earnings reports, but as competition with newer platforms becomes tighter, it’s also one of the only streaming services to lose paid subscribers, falling by almost 1 million subscribers since March and nearly 1.2 million since December.
Disney’s bundle of streaming services—including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+—rose from 196.4 million subscribers in January to 205.6 million in April, the company reported, making it a real competitor to Netflix, but Disney+ pulls most of the weight, with 137.7 million subscribers in April (up 7.9 million from January) compared to Hulu’s 45.6 million (up roughly 300,000 in three months).
HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+—all of which have been owned by Warner Bros. Discovery since April—counted a combined 92.1 million subscribers in June, up just 1.7 million from March, the company says (it’s unclear how plans to merge the streaming services together into one platform will affect subscriber numbers).
Paramount+, owned by CBS’ owner Paramount Global, reported just 43 million subscribers in June—but the streamer has gained over 10 million since December.
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Peacock, NBCUniversal parent Comcast’s streaming network, had 13 million paid subscribers as of last month, roughly the same amount that Comcast reported in April, and 27 million active monthly accounts—unlike some of the other streaming platforms, it offers a free version of its service with select programs and movies.
KEY BACKGROUND
2022 has been a tumultuous year for streaming services, as media companies increasingly prioritize streaming platforms instead of traditional television. Warner Bros. Discovery, which was formed after Discovery and AT&T’s former subsidiary WarnerMedia merged in April, announced plans last week to integrate HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single service next summer. The company also shut down news streaming service CNN+ just one month after it launched, amid a push to control costs and a belief that niche streaming platforms tend to fare worse than more all-encompassing services. More changes are to come: After Netflix suffered its first subscriber losses in over a decade earlier this year, the company said it would launch a cheaper ad-supported tier and cut down on password sharing, which it blamed for some of the deficit. The company shut down service in Russia after the country invaded Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers.
TANGENT
A survey from Nielsen released earlier this year found that there are more titles than ever available to stream, and the time Americans spend watching streaming content each week is on the rise. Still, 64% of respondents said they wish there was a streaming service bundle, and 46% said it’s hard to find the programs they want to watch because there are too many streaming services.
FURTHER READING
HBO Max And Discovery+ Will Combine Into One Streaming Service(Forbes)
Streaming Viewers Feel Overwhelmed By Options, Nielsen Survey Suggests(Forbes)
By Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff
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