The relaunch of the former HBO Nordic for the broader-based HBO Max has had a significant effect on subscriber numbers.
The HBO Max brand went live in the Nordic region on October 26, with local media consultancy Mediavision reporting a “noticeable effect” on the number of Nordic SVOD subscriptions.
Average household penetration of just below 20% has restored the service to the top three most-watched SVOD services.
In 2019, shortly after the last season of Game of Thrones premiered, HBO Nordic reached new heights with close to 2 million subscribing households (15-74-years-olds). Subsequently, the service had lost approximately 400,000 subscribing households.
Following the launch of HBO Max, the Warner Media streamer has added more than 635,000 new subscribing households, taking its total to over 2.2 million. This represents the highest number for HBO ever recorded by Mediavision.
Marie Nilsson, CEO of Mediavision, said: The launch of HBO Max has had a direct, positive, effect on the total number of Nordic SVOD subscriptions. However, the effect on household penetration is less substantial. The vast majority of the new customers already held at least one subscription to another service. This means that HBO Max has pushed “stacking” on the Nordic market. This is similar to what we saw when Disney Plus launched in the fall of 2020.”
Last week it was announced HBO Max had exceeded its projected subscriber numbers for the end of 2021 with approximately 73.8 million total global HBO Max and HBO subscribers.
